Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation
by Supa Supa Bad Truly Mad Moves
Summary: Ten years have passed since the Xehanort Saga. Skye, Oceana, and Lando are the most promising new Keyblade candidates in the worlds beset by a new Heartless threat.
1. History of the Key

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Hi, and welcome to KHNG! You've stumbled upon the birth of my fanfiction magnum opus—the fic I was born to write. I'm very excited about this.

If you haven't read "Aqua Mortis", the preemptive spin-off to the continuity I'm creating here… don't. Not yet. It'll be interesting to see this from a new perspective. Could read this first, or Aqua first. Either way would be awesome.

Characters and elements are, for the most part, property of Disney/Square-Enix… or Square-Enix/Disney. Something like that.

**History of the Key**

The small, armored figure entered the world on a deep maroon Keyblade Glider in the form of a speeder bike. He observed his surroundings from behind his mask: it was a very small world, with no distinguishable sky or ground—only blackness, and dozens of enormous floating white spheres ringed by balconies and walkways.

Emerging onto the nearest balcony came a thin and gangly figure in thin leather armor, mostly covered in black fur apart from his doglike face, with the fur on top of his head fashioned into a choppy hairstyle. The boy on the glider floated over to the balcony, and the glider vanished. The boy neatly dropped to the balcony floor and then quickly removed his pale purple armor, leaving him in his checkered shirt, tan slacks, and oversized brown-and-silver shoes.

"Hey there. You must be Skye." The canine-faced boy held out a hand to shake.

"Yeah, that's me," he replied. Skye was a boy of thirteen, shorter than the other and with spiked cyan hair and large eyes of the same color. "Just flew over from the Keyblade Academy. You?"

"Max Goof, Disney Castle," said the other. "Glad to meet you! Master Sora's been expecting you, I'll take you to him."

The very mention of the name made Skye tingle with anticipation, and something close to fear. Max presented him with the door leading to the sphere's interior, and Skye proceeded into a circular, featureless hallway.

"So, Max…" Skye said. "Where exactly are we?"

"We're on Crystal Spheres," Max replied cheerfully. "Master Sora created it. See, so little is known about the Keyblade and its history… so, Sora uses this world to collect everything he knows. Crystal Spheres is a museum and a library, for anyone who travels the worlds."

They emerged on the other end of the sphere, through a door leading to a borderless walkway that took them to a higher structure.

"Since so much of the past has been forgotten," Max continued, "Sora wants to make sure no one in the future forgets about the current age. So, there are reports here on every friend—and every enemy—he's ever met across the worlds."

They had entered the next room, where the walls were lined with life-sized portraits of all kinds of people—more different kinds of people than Skye had imagined could exist, in fact, though he had studied a number of the worlds at the Academy.

"That's Aladdin, right there," Max said, pointing to a picture. "Real rags-to-riches story, that guy. Went from common street rat to the prince of Agrabah _and_ the Prince of Thieves. And, ah, there's Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween, who you may recognize from your darkest nightmares… or, any given piece of merchandise at Hot Topic, I suppose. Apparently Sora used to get him out of a lot of jams… not the sanest guy I've ever met, but nice enough. And, of course, that's Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up. Might not look like much, but he's had a _lot_ of spare time to learn how to use that dagger."

"You know a lot about them," Skye noticed.

"Like I said, Sora makes everybody learn it," Max said, smiling. "Hold on…"

They stepped out onto another balcony, and Max pulled a lever; the balcony began to float across the expanse of emptiness to the next sphere.

As it floated, Skye noticed an image carved straight onto the crystal of a central structure. It was three faces, several stories tall, all in a row, each one with kind and sad blue eyes: a brown-haired man, a blue-haired woman, and a blond teen boy.

"Who are they?" Skye asked.

"Masters Terra, Aqua, and Ventus," Max said. "It was important for Sora to immortalize them, for everyone to remember their heroics. It's the least he can do, since… he failed to save them."

"They… they're dead?" Skye breathed.

"Most people think so," Max said solemnly. "I mean, no one ever found them. So you see… but if they did die, they died fighting the darkness, as Keyblade Masters will… in fact, Terra and Ventus were given the 'Master' title posthumously. It was important to Master Sora… first thing he did after his life calmed down a bit. That's what my dad says, anyway."

The floating balcony hooked itself to another sphere, also decorated with a mural.

"That's my king," Max said, pointing to an image. Skye nodded; most people across the worlds recognized Mickey Mouse these days. "And there's Master Riku with him."

The silver-haired guy in the picture couldn't have been older than fifteen, but something about his serious expression made Skye's skin crawl… an appropriate enough reaction, he supposed, to that famously withdrawn master of the Between.

"And… here we go, there's the depiction of your mentor," Max said grandly.

Skye recognized the image as Master Sora: a light tan, and expansive brown hair. It depicted Sora in his youth, his teeth bared in a ridiculous smile and his eyes wide.

"Wow," Skye said, chuckling. "That's the guy, huh?"

"Yep. My dad says that's the face he made when they first met… apparently, it's still pretty hard to take the grandest Master seriously."

"Good to know," Skye muttered. "I mean, can you imagine…? I graduate from the Keyblade Academy after one year, and I find out that Master Sora, _the_ Master Sora wants to make me his very first student."

"That's gotta be intimidating," Max said. "But you must be up for it, right? Good grades, and so on?"

"Well… evidently," Skye said, laughing. "I guess I tried really, really hard… and it got me here. But what do _you_ do, Max?"

Max held out a hand and conjured up a jousting lance. It was longer than he was tall, but extremely lightweight, and he performed a few jabs and twirls with it.

"I'm part of the king's guard," he said proudly. "Pretty good at it, if I say so myself… but my dad being the captain and all—that's him on that mural, him and the wizard Donald Duck—I guess that's my biggest advantage, just nepotism."

A small girl came around the corner then. Only knee-high to Skye and Max, she was covered in white feathers and had an orange beak. She wore pink wizard's robes styled to resemble a tutu, and a pink bow atop her head.

"Is this him?" she squeaked.

"Yeah, this is our guy," Max said.

"Good… Master Sora was worried."

"Skye, this is Webby. Webby, Skye. She's Donald's niece, mage-in-training."

"Ah," Skye said. "Hi, Webby. Well… I guess we're _all_ apprentices, aren't we?"

Max chuckled. "Hey, yeah. And… all of our teachers are right through this door." He nudged Skye. "You ready to face your destiny?"

"Yeah," Skye said. "Let's do this thing."


	2. Illustrious Master

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Hello again. The current story summary… I know, right? It's horrible. Don't look at it. I'm so ashamed.

Even though the true shame comes from saying "I suck at summaries", which might as well stick a big red "don't read" sticker on the whole story… well, I do. I do suck at summaries. I've written how many stories now? Look at those summaries. Not a good one among them.

Incidentally, I also suck at beginnings. Not of stories, of chapters. Every damn one. That's why I update so slowly. The bulk of the chapter runs through my head, no problems. But there's no typing a word until I've come up with an opener, which sometimes takes months. Literally, months.

For more ranting, tune in to the notes of future chapters! _Yaaaaay_…

**Illustrious Master**

Skye's hand quivered as he pushed open the door into the central sphere. He stood on a walkway that ringed the entire dome-shaped room, and beyond the walkway's railings was a stone-floored pit.

On the opposite site of the room stood Master Sora himself. A young man, but one radiating power and serenity. His pale brown hair hung limply around his face, but when he noticed Skye's entrance it quickly flared up into those familiar spikes. Flanking him like bodyguards on either side were the knight Goofy and the mage Donald.

"Ah, there you are," the Master said. "Skye, isn't it?"

"Um, yeah," Skye mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"Yes, I'm Skye," he said louder, then quickly mumbled, "Master Sora."

"Well, you know why you're here," Sora said. "You're the cream of the crop. Raced through the ranks, graduated after barely more than a year. Your achievements caught my attention—I'd like to take you on as my student, if you're willing."

"Uh… yes, sir," Skye said. "I'm very excited about this."

"Good, good," Sora muttered. "Hm, let's see, how's the protocol go… oh, right. Present your Keyblade to me."

Skye did so. The Keyblade's guard and grip were golden, while its long and wide length was a deep maroon, its head double-bladed. Skye had to grip it in both hands, as the weapon was absolutely huge, even when _not_ compared to Skye's rather diminutive stature.

"Fantastic," Sora said. "Does it have a name?"

"Yes, sir. It's called Wide Open Space."

Sora nodded. "Well, let's see what you're made of. Into the pit, please… Donald, Goofy, if you would."

Donald chuckled in an odd, raspy voice as he leapt over the railing into the pit. Goofy followed, saying, "Right! Uh… what are we doing?"

Donald rolled his eyes. "We're sparring with the kid, you big palooka."

"Oh… of course. Ahyuk."

Skye stepped into the pit and drew his Keyblade, while his two opponents summoned a crooked wizard's staff and a round shield.

Max gave Skye a thumbs-up from the sidelines. "You can do this, man," he said.

"All right, gentlemen," Sora said. "Whenever you're ready."

Donald made the first move, blasting a magic spell in Skye's direction. Skye deflected it with a wordless spell of his own. Goofy had already moved in to bash Skye with his shield, throwing him off balance in Donald's direction.

Skye recovered before Donald could take advantage, cutting the mage's legs out from underneath him and, with a cry of "Wind!", blasting him to the very edges of the pit.

The apprentice now had the opportunity to give his full attention to Goofy, who was standing his ground. Skye did a few experimental thrusts to find an opening in Goofy's defenses, but there was none.

Skye jumped high in the air, but Goofy had the exact same idea. Before they could collide in midair, Skye managed a flip over the top of Goofy's head, and the opportunity to kick at Goofy's exposed back.

Goofy crashed to the ground, and Skye landed neatly on his feet, only to discover that Donald had made a full recovery and was even then giving an angry shout of "Gravity!" Skye found himself floating helplessly, kicking his legs against the air to no avail.

He tossed his Keyblade at Donald, who jumped away. The blade returned to Skye's hand, and he tried the same tactic again. Donald cast a barrier spell, and Skye's own Keyblade turned against him, knocking him out of the air.

Skye sprang to his feet and batted Goofy away before he was even truly conscious that the knight captain was there.

"Okay, cut!" Sora called.

The three combatants rapidly stood at attention as Sora stepped into the ring.

"I've seen what I had to," Sora said to Skye. "You're a good thinker, quick on your toes. That's pretty obvious. But we've got to push you harder—your next opponent will be me. You know, me. Me, Master Sora."

"We know who you are," Donald grumbled playfully as he and Goofy retreated to the sidelines.

Skye gripped his giant blade in shaky hands at the sight of Sora producing the Kingdom Key. So simple in its design, golden handle and silver blade, the plainest Keyblade imaginable… but in the hands of the greatest Master… Skye shivered with excitement.

Sora grinned. "Check this out right here, graduate," he said, and in his other hand produced a second Keyblade, with a crooked blue shaft and a moon and star for its head.

"Two…?" Skye muttered, but it wasn't over. Sora had been wearing a simple black shirt, baggy red pants, and oversized shoes and gloves. In a single instant, the entire outfit flared out and became uniformly gold—Sora flipped into the air and a _third_ Keyblade materialized under his feet, which he rode like a hoverboard. Floating in the air to the Master's side appeared two, three… six Keyblades hovering around his person—nine Keyblades altogether.

"Oh… my… stars…" Skye breathed.

"Oh yeah," Sora said dangerously. "You ready? Go!"

Sora rushed in, blades whirring, putting Skye on the defensive instantly. Metal rang against metal, and Skye tried desperately to fight back, but two of the floating blades crossed down over his. Skye was then nicked by the Keyblade Sora was standing on as the Master floated up to the top of the dome.

Skye pondered what his next move would be… and it became apparent as Sora hurled one Keyblade after another straight at him. Skye danced around the pit, relieved at each near miss when each Keyblade became buried up to the hilt in the stone floor. After the sixth dodge, Skye's muscles had been pushed to their limit, and he already felt as if he'd fall to his knees at any moment…

Then, at the sight of Sora swooping down on him, Skye tensed up and brought his Keyblade to bear. Skye's blade deflected Sora away, but the feeling of triumph didn't last as with a simple gesture, Sora pulled all the Keyblades from the ground and they resumed their holding pattern around his body. Sora jetted toward Skye with the exact same moves he had opened the battle with, gaining a fast advantage.

_Wait,_ Skye realized… that _was_ the exact same move Sora had opened with. Even though Skye's attempts at parrying went differently, Sora gave them the exact same follow-through.

The six floating Keyblades worked their way through Skye's defense, and it all became clear to him: How easy could it be to coordinate nine Keyblades? Sora could guide them only through the most basic of attack maneuvers, and after initiating an attack combination, there would be no changing his mind about the way it ended.

The next time that the six blades whirled around toward him, Skye gripped the hilt of Wide Open Space and brought it down to block, trapping all six of them within his snare. That was the opening he needed.

Skye jumped over the floating blades and went for Sora's suddenly exposed torso. He knocked the Master off of the hovering key, and he skidded along the ground until hitting the pit's edge.

All nine of Sora's Keyblades vanished as he got to his feet. "I yield," he said, holding up his hands. "I so very yield. So! What've you learned here? How did you do that?"

It was only when he tried to speak that Skye realized just how heavily he was breathing. "I figured… that you couldn't really control all of the Keyblades that well. Nine weapons all at once? No one has that kind of harmony of heart, body, and soul… no one."

Sora tapped his nose. "Nailed it. See, that's my darkest secret right there. Am I the most powerful Keyblade Master of all time? Yeah, probably. Am I almighty? Heck no. That's the thing you need to remember about battle: anybody can be defeated by anybody, at any time. First lesson. Got that down?"

"Yes, Master," Skye said exhaustedly.

"All right… well, you're definitely in," Sora rubbed his hands together. "I mean, you were always _in_, but I had to take a look at you, see what you were capable of. You know how it is." Sora leaned back, his hands behind his head. "Well, then, it seems that you're my apprentice now… so, Crystal Spheres will be your home for a while. We may travel to other worlds as needed, but mostly, we'll be working with what I've built here.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off? There's a very nice library—you'll have the opportunity to study or just read recreationally, whatever you prefer. If you're not into reading, I rented this one sphere out to some Moogles, so there's a Hot Topic, a pizza place, an arcade, a Starbucks, and… another Starbucks."

"Of course," Skye muttered.

"Yep," Sora said, nodding. "Anyway, you should be qualified for the Mark of Mastery in six years, at most. Like I was saying, take the rest of the day off. You definitely earned it."

"Yes, Master," Skye said again.

Sora cocked his head to the side. "Are you okay, kid?"

"Sure."

"You're my apprentice now. That's what you wanted, right?"

"Yes, Master Sora. More than anything."

"Well, come on, then!" Sora urged. "Why so down on yourself? Let's see a smile, damn it."

Skye made an attempt at a smile. The attempt was made with such haste that, Skye was sure, he came off looking deranged. Master Sora roared with laughter.

"You know, Skye, I think I like you," Sora said. "This is gonna be a riot."


	3. Midghosts

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

I'd like to take a moment to establish the ground rules of the universe here. Here's what we do: take all the knowledge about the _KH_ universe and timeline that you learned about from the original game all the way to the secret ending of _Re:coded_. Keep all of that in mind. Anything you learned after that—do your best to forget about it while perusing this story. The entire universe is pre-_3D_, even though it's set in the series' future. I've got many plotlines set up here, and I'm not gonna let a little thing like, you know, actual continuity stand in the way of that. :D

**Midghosts**

Skye brought his Keyblade through a number of familiar slashes and parries, routine exercises he had done a hundred times—though never in a place quite as surreal or charming as Crystal Spheres' weapons room.

From within, the sphere was almost completely transparent, offering a panoramic view of the entire crystal city. Perfectly-crafted weapons lined the walls—none that Skye would be at all interested in using, of course, but the history and craftsmanship was definitely worth studying.

Max had joined him, hanging around on one of the surrounding benches to polish his lance. Webby was there too—she never said much, but seemed to enjoy their company while playing with a small doll that looked exactly like herself.

"So, Skye," Max called. "Is that what you're wearing?"

Skye looked over his gray zipped shirt and tan slacks. "Yeah," he said defensively. "Why?"

"Makes you look way too stiff," Max said, shaking his head. "That's not you. Here." He tossed Skye a long, checkerboard-patterned coat. "Take my coat, leave it unzipped. Let it fly a bit—much more casual."

Skye put on the coat, which went almost to his knees. It fit nicely around his shoulders, though, and the way it flowed with the slightest breeze did make him feel a bit more relaxed in his own self.

He spun his Keyblade in a quick loop. "Feels good, Max," he said. "Thanks."

Max winked. "Hey—no problem." He paused to look at the outside. "What… what is that?"

Skye looked up, and saw it spread out over the black ceiling of the world: large orbs of light, grouped together to spell out the words "Rally at Crystal Spheres".

"Hmm," Skye muttered. "What's that all about?"

"I don't know," Max replied, "but the best place for a rally would be up on the central sphere, right by the airstrip."

"We should find out what's up, then," Skye said. "You coming?"

"Of course," Max said, hopping to his feet.

Skye, Max, and Webby took the various stairs and moving platforms to the sphere in the exact center of the world, which served as a hangar for numerous Gummi ships of all sizes. Donald, Goofy, and Sora were already there, scanning in every direction.

"Master Sora," Skye said, bowing. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Sora said. "Apparently, somebody wants to see me."

A small puddle of darkness appeared in the floor, and from it rose two tall shapes.

"Hey—Riku," Sora said, waving. "You have anything to do with this message?"

"No," Master Riku said simply. "I only just received it."

Skye reflexively flinched away. Master Riku was an intimidating presence—his great height, the black cloak he wore to ward off darkness, and his thick silver hair that reached his waist and left his entire face concealed, another safeguard against dark power.

Riku's younger companion gave the group a quick scan with narrow green eyes, before focusing completely on Skye. "Hey, little guy!" he said, waving.

Skye brightened. "Lando, hey!"

They approached each other and clasped their hands together. Lando was tall and broad, with dark skin and bright red hair in long, tangled dreadlocks. Though Lando was two years older than Skye, he had graduated only a few months before and quickly entered Master Riku's training, and Skye had found himself missing his friend's companionship and his unique sort of wit.

Lando pounded Skye's shoulder. "What's up with you?"

"What's up with me? Oh, just a little apprenticeship under Master Sora, that's all."

Lando leaned back, impressed. "No kidding? Wow. Are we lucky fellas, or what?"

"It does seem… unlikely," Skye said.

Lando ruffled Skye's hair. "Well, you look good."

"You too," Skye said cheerfully.

Lando retreated back to Master Riku's side just as a small Gummi craft appeared in the sky and set itself down in a parking space. Its doors opened, and the distinct figure of an immensely powerful, two-foot-tall Keyblade Master stepped out.

"King Mickey!" Donald and Goofy said together, saluting him.

Skye was already down on one knee. "Majesty," he said, bowing his head.

King Mickey chuckled. "Aw, you don't have to do that. On your feet, soldier."

Skye stood upright, feeling a bit sheepish. Lando smirked at him from his place at Riku's side.

"Well," Mickey said, looking around at everyone present. "From your expressions, I'd say nobody here called this rally. Then who did?"

In a puff of magic dust, another person appeared. A shaky old man in a heavy gray robe, the new arrival was almost bald, with a huge nose and thick glasses that magnified his brown eyes.

"Geri?" Goofy gasped. "Gawrsh, we haven't seen you in years!"

Donald's response was more subdued. He faced Geri evenly and pressed two fingers vertically against his forehead. "Archmage," he quacked respectfully.

Geri repeated the gesture. "Fellow archmage," he replied. "And hello, Keyblade Masters—Sora, Riku, Mickey."

"Hi," Sora said. "Does this mean that André is coming out of hiding?"

The old man blinked a few times and didn't answer for a moment. "I am here… representing King André," he finally said.

"So, no," Riku said.

"No," Geri confirmed.

Skye was already lost in this conversation, and he tried to catch Sora's eye to give him an inquiring look. Sora noticed, and quickly began to explain.

"King André is a former Keyblade Master," he said. "King of Pixar Palace and one of the three Ancients."

Geri cleared his throat. "Forgive me, but André is _still_ a Keyblade Master. There's nothing 'former' about him."

"He's a coward, that's all he is," Riku retorted.

"Let's not go into this," Geri said gently. "Let me explain my business. You see, it seems that the veil between life and death has been torn ever so slightly. Just enough for things to begin leaking through." Geri held up one hand and conjured up an illusory image of a figure shrouded in a pale gray cloak. "A new sort of mindless being—King André calls them Midghosts, on account of their dwelling neither here nor there." Geri clenched his fist, and the illusion dissipated. "They are believed to behave much like Heartless, but it is not known for sure what it is that they do. André recommends that such talented Keyblade Masters as yourself should go out to preempt this threat, before it truly becomes one."

Geri's monologue was greeted by a moment of silent contemplation.

"I've heard of this before," Mickey finally said. "Give me a moment…"

He conjured his golden Keyblade, the inverse of Sora's simple Kingdom Key. Waving it in a circle above his head, Mickey closed his eyes and fell into a trance.

Riku crouched down near Mickey's head, as if listening to what was going on in the king's mind. "Mm-hmm," Riku muttered. "And in essence…"

"Yes," Mickey said quietly. He opened his eyes, and Riku straightened up.

"We just contacted Master Kermit," Riku said. "He's in the far reaches of the worlds—he can confirm everything Geri has said."

"Hmm, and I suppose taking my word for it was out of the question?" Geri said dryly.

"André's opinion holds no sway in my heart," Riku said. Addressing Skye and Lando, he explained, "A few years ago, André had a bad encounter with some Heartless. It happens to all of us, but _apparently_, this one was too traumatic. André sealed off Pixar Palace—making it nearly impossible to enter or leave. He's remained hidden on his world ever since."

"I have left," Geri said simply.

"Yes, you have," Sora agreed. "That proves this is extremely important, and André knows it…" He brightened suddenly. "Donald, Goofy. I think we have some exploring to do. Like old times! Shall we?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stacked their hands atop each other and declared, "All for one and one for—"

"Hold on, hold on," Riku said, cutting them off. "First off, you three really need to stop trying to speak in unison, 'cause you can't _do_ it…"

"And furthermore," Mickey added, "I think I'm gonna need you two back home at the castle. I've got reason to believe that someone from our 'old crowd' might be coming back soon."

Donald and Goofy exchanged glances. "Pete?" Goofy said blankly.

"No," Mickey said. "Not Pete."

Donald's expression became very serious, very quickly.

"You understand, then? Good," Mickey said. "Riku, could you and Lando join us?"

"Certainly," Riku said with a small nod.

"So, just me, then?" Sora said.

Mickey held up one finger. "Actually…" he said. "I think you should go to Destiny Islands to check on your wife and her pupil."

"Kairi's pupil?" Sora said curiously. "You mean Oceana? You think she has something to do with this?"

Skye perked up rapidly. "Oceana?" he blurted.

Mickey smiled. "She's got a Keyblade, doesn't she? Of course she's a part of all this. Call it a hunch."

Geri frowned. "Who, then, is going to see to the worlds that are menaced by the Midghosts?"

All eyes turned to Skye, Max, and Webby.

"What's everybody looking at you for?" Skye muttered to Max.

"No, man, they're looking at _you_," Max whispered.

"All of you," Sora said.

"What?" Skye said with a jump. "Why?"

Donald and Goofy started walking up to them.

"Son, I know you're a good soldier," Goofy said gently. "It's obvious you know how to fight. So I think it's time to learn _when_ to fight… and why."

"And Webby," Donald added, "there's more to magic than what you read in books. Sometimes, you gotta go out and see what the worlds are really like."

Skye gazed at Sora uncertainly.

"I know it's a bit early to be sending you on a long journey," Sora said. "But we'll make it quick, all right? I'll be joining you in no time."

Geri snorted. "King André won't be pleased about this… but nevertheless, he has asked me to give a sign of good faith to whoever is doing the journeying, so here you are." From a fold in his robe, Geri produced a large, plump bumblebee.

"The bee?" Riku said skeptically. "So what?"

"Wally B. is André's right-hand man," Mickey pointed out. "He's taking a big risk to let him journey like this. This is more important than we thought."

The bee buzzed over to Skye and examined him for a moment, before tweaking his nose and diving into an inside pocket of his coat, then emerging with a serious expression, pad, and pen.

"Ow," Skye muttered, rubbing the tip of his nose.

"Wally B. is going to chronicle events as they occur," Geri explained. "For full explanations as to how Midghosts must be dealt with, you understand. And if you're ever in a bad situation, he also packs a mean sting."

Sora began rummaging in his pockets. "Well, if André gets representation on this mission, I suppose I might as well too." He produced a small bracelet, its charm representing a tiny green shoe decorated with a white puff. "Oh, Tinker Bell!"

A little blond pixie appeared in Sora's hand, and joined him in performing a simple, but clearly pre-choreographed, hip-hop dance.

"All right, Tink," Sora said. "I'd like you to travel with Skye for a while. Would you be okay with that?"

Tinker Bell fluttered over to Skye and did a quick sweep of his face with her eyes. She smiled mischievously and nodded, before diving back toward Sora and vanishing into thin air.

"Here you are, then," Sora said, handing the charm to Skye.

Skye examined it. "Um… what?"

"It's a summon charm, kid. You use it to call my very dear friend Tinker Bell. She's gotten me out of many a rough spot. Many uses."

Skye didn't seem convinced. "So… I just call her, and she'll come?"

"As long as you have the energy to fuel the magic, yes," Sora said.

"But…" Skye muttered. "She'll come? From her world? At any time?"

"Yes…" Sora said slowly. "What's your question?"

"Well, is she unemployed, or what?" Skye asked.

Sora threw back his head and laughed powerfully. "You're sharp, kid! Sharp and pointy. I admire that in a person, especially a child… if you don't get killed, the next six years are gonna be a freakin' _blast_."

"Um… thank you," Skye said dryly.

"Oh, nobody's getting killed!" Sora assured him. "It's a teensy little recon mission. Nothing to it."

"Okay," Skye said. "So where am I going?"

"Well, let's come take a look at the world map," Sora said. He led Skye to a moving platform that took them down to a flat-topped sphere that depicted a map—a map of all the worlds in relation to each other.

"Let's see," Sora said. "Well, we're here." He pointed to the graphic of Crystal Spheres. "And we're just checking on Midghost activity in nearby worlds. So… I'd recommend you go south."

"South?" Skye said. "It's world travel, Master. There is no 'south'."

"Hmm, that's true," Sora admitted. "Well, what looks like south on the map, all right? Just scope out the worlds in _this_ general area." He circled a group of worlds with his foot. "Then we rendezvous at Disney Castle. Okay?"

"Okay," Skye said, saluting.

Max and Webby floated over to him in Gummi pods—tiny, bubble-topped one-man Gummi ships. "We're all ready," Max said.

"Great," Skye muttered. He conjured his armor and glider, and boarded them. Back on the central sphere, Geri had vanished without a trace while the others were piling into King Mickey's craft. Master Sora entered his own ship, which lifted off the ground.

"All right, over there?" Sora called.

"Yeah," Skye called back. "Um, hey… when you see Oceana… give her my greetings, would you?"

"Sure thing, kid," Sora said. "This whole thing will be over in no time at all."

The large Gummi ships vanished. Skye set himself up as the point of the formation, with Max and Webby in their pods flanking him, and prepared to breach the world barrier.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The shadowy figure sat alone in his prison of light, mulling things over. Though his cage was made of pure, crackling light, outside was an endless world of darkness… but not as dark as the figure himself. His domed head, featureless face, and cloaked body were as black as if they had just been dipped in fresh India ink—all except for the whites of his beady, perpetually angry eyes.

Far too long he'd been waiting for an opportunity. But at that very moment, a portal opened just outside of his cage, and out poured an army of man-sized figures shrouded entirely in gray. They started clawing at the prison, but were repelled by the light's energy, and eventually they backed off entirely, huddling together a safe distance away.

"What the…?" the shadowy figure muttered.

From the portal stepped a person much more distinct in form than anyone else present. Tall and gangly, he wore an outrageously plumed top hat emblazoned with a skull-and-crossbones, a dark suit, and a high-cut purple vest that exposed his stomach.

"Greetings, my good sir," the man said, giving a sweeping bow. "A tip of the hat from Dr. Facilier… I'm looking for a gentleman who calls himself the Phantom Blot."

"I'm the Phantom Blot," said the shady figure.

"Ah! Of course you are," Dr. Facilier said with a wide smile. "I'm here representing a brotherhood—a band of darkness wielders working together… not just for the personal gains of each individual, but supporting each other's interests as comrades will. Tell me, Mr. Blot, what is it that _you_ want?"

"I want release from this prison!" the Blot declared.

"Obviously," Facilier said quietly. "But I meant in the long-term."

The Blot scratched his head for a moment. "Well… I want revenge."

"That's good."

"I want the kingdom that Mickey Mouse stole from me!" the Blot said, gaining momentum.

"Good, good… go on."

"And… well…" the Blot made a fist and shot an intense glare at the man outside his prison. "I want a Keyblade of my very own."

"Very good," Dr. Facilier rumbled. "As of now, the Brotherhood devotes itself to achieving _your_ goals. If you're interested, that is."

The Phantom Blot nodded. "But of course."

"Well, let me see to breaking you out of this cage," Dr. Facilier said thoughtfully. He stepped back a short distance. The light from the Blot's prison cast a shadow behind him, but with a wiggle of his fingers, Facilier conjured an enormous orb of even brighter light behind himself.

A shadow now cast in front of him, Dr. Facilier mimed the bending and twisting of metal bars—and as his shadow did the same, the bars of the Blot's cage bent apart, giving him space to step out.

"Well, well, well," the Blot said, genuinely impressed. "What was _that_?"

"That was the power of darkness, as if you didn't know," Facilier said. "Funny thing, isn't it? To cast a _real_ deep shadow, you need to have a powerful light source."

"Not at all," the Blot said. "It's the very thing that keeps the worlds working as they do… those people to whom the power of light shine brightest also cast shadows, yes?"

Facilier nodded.

"And what _are_ these magnificent creatures you've brought?" the Blot asked. He bent down, trying to get a glimpse of what was under their hoods… and leapt back in alarm. The Midghosts had faces as smooth as marble, and their eyes looked identical to the Blot's—black and furious.

Dr. Facilier laughed. "Yes, they are extravagant, aren't they?" He looked into the eyes of the very same Midghost, and instead saw eyes exactly like his—bulging and sleepy, an eerie shade of lavender.

"Show me to the Brotherhood, Facilier," the Blot commanded. "Where do they gather?"

"The Keyblade Graveyard," Facilier replied darkly. "Ever been?"

"No," the Blot said. "But I always wanted to. Let us depart."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

And the adventure is kicked off! I'd like to explain myself before anyone tries calling me out on this… You may have noticed that I'm not giving Webby any lines. Well, I simply _had_ to write her into the story, and what better way to do that than as the new Donald? But… well, I love Webby dearly, if vague memories of a childhood in which _DuckTales_ was basically my religion are any indicator, but despite that I have no idea how to write for her. So, I figured a while back that I'd make her the quiet type. Hopefully, that doesn't go against her grain _too_ much. Hopefully, it'll work out.


	4. Beneath the Ground

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Hi. So, the journey begins. Now, sometimes, adding the world-exploration aspect of the series into a fanfiction can be a little bit of a kiss of death. I'm hoping to avert that by keeping a mantra of "no filler"—every world must be an emotional and developmental journey for our main characters as well as whoever they meet.

So, this being Kingdom Hearts, you never know who you'll meet or where you'll go next. Unlike I did in "Aqua Mortis", I _will_ now be restricting that to the Disney and Square-Enix properties. So, how do you feel about a little Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer film called _National Treasure_?

I don't know who I'm talking to, actually. I gotta do some networking.

**Beneath the Ground**

The three of them sailed through the swirling stars of the Between, Skye on his glider and Max and Webby just to his sides in their Gummi pods.

"Hey, Webby," Max said.

"Hmm?" she said, surprised.

"Yeah, hi," Max said. "Listen, Webby, if we're ever on a world where you have to turn us into animals? Be careful on those, 'cause, I know my dad always had a fondness for, ah, chelonids."

"For what?" Webby said, confused.

"Chelonids," Max repeated. "I think that's the correct term. Cheloni? Cheloniums? You know: turtles, sea turtles, tortoises… others."

"I think you named them all, actually," Skye said dryly.

"All the chel… chelonites? Yeah, probably," Max said cheerfully. "Anyway—if it comes up, which it might not, I'm hoping for something a tad more dignified. Just keep that in mind."

"Sure!" Webby chirped.

"Good, good," Max said. He nudged Skye lightly with his craft. "So… Oceana. Girlfriend?"

Skye laughed. "Hardly. _Way_ out of my league. Me and her and Lando used to hang out at the Academy. Then she got taken in by Master Kairi, and then him by Riku, and now me… they say it's a vast World, but I guess not."

"I guess not," Max said, nodding. "Good fortunes for you guys."

"Yep," Skye replied. "How about you? You seem like the type who's got a girl waiting for him back at Disney Castle."

Max laughed loudly, a sound highly evocative of his father. "You know what? I actually do. I can't believe it either! Roxanne. One of the queen's personal attendants. Yes, sir. I've always been such a goof. I don't know how I did it."

"All right," Skye said, chuckling. "Here we are, let's pull in."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The three entered a world, a bustling city under a bright, sunny sky. Shielding the Gummi pods invisibly atop a church, the three then slid down to street level.

"All right," Max said. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

"I'm not quite sure," Skye admitted. "I guess we've got to depend on me in order to track these Midghosts down."

"After you, then," Max said with a light bow.

Skye opened his heart, scanning the activity in the world as far as he could. He didn't have to stretch his senses too far.

"Right here in the church," he said, surprised. "I think this is where we should start."

They walked around to the front of the church and entered its large front doors.

Instantly, a tall man with a shaved head pulled a pistol on them. "What are you doing here?" he said in a deep voice. "Hold still!"

Skye, Max, and Webby conjured their weapons, but quickly discovered that thugs were pointing guns at them from every direction. Helpless, they lowered their armaments.

"Shaw!" called a voice from inside the church. "What's going on?"

"Uninvited guests," the bald man growled.

The trio were escorted to the pews. Three individuals were kept under guard at the very back; an elderly bespectacled man, a young man with black hair and striking blue eyes, and an attractive blond woman.

Shaw marched the three down the aisle, where a large and intimidating man with blond hair looked them over.

"Hmm, the Keyblade," the man said, eyeing Skye's weapon. "A treasure all on its own, but not the one I had in mind. Ben? Do go on."

The man turned to another man, sitting in the front bench with a large square of parchment and an odd pair of multicolored spectacles. Though his face was lined and his hair thinning at the temples, Ben had a distinctive sort of movie-star quality about him.

"Right," Ben muttered. "Let's see." He put on the spectacles and examined the parchment. "Ian, you gotta see this."

The large blond sat down next to Ben and borrowed the spectacles for a moment. "So, what does it mean?" Ian said tersely.

Ben took the specs back and flipped some of the many lenses upward. "Well, 'Heere at the Wall'. That's here, Broadway and Wall Street. And then it says 'Parkington Lane'… 'Beneath Parkington Lane'."

"Parkington Lane?" Ian repeated. "Where's that? Why would they lead us here and then just take us someplace else?"

Ben pondered it for a moment. "Parkington Lane…" he said. "It's here. It's someone's name. We need to find the right tomb."

"All right," Ian said. "Let's get moving."

The group began to spread out, several of them at gunpoint. Ben turned to the other prisoners. "Dad, Riley, Abigail, I'm sorry about this," he said.

"It's fine, son," the old man said quietly.

"Hey, I volunteered, after all," said the younger man.

"I got myself into this," the woman said with a smile.

"And you three…" Ben added to Skye, Max, and Webby. "I especially should apologize to you. You turned up out of nowhere, you've got nothing to do with this…"

"Don't worry about it," Skye replied shakily.

Ben rolled up the large, tattered parchment and delicately placed it in a tube-shaped satchel. The entire group made their way through the back rooms of the church.

"Hey, you," Ben said to Abigail. He scooped her up and kissed her as the rest of the procession passed by.

"Why does that never happen to me?" Shaw grumbled from behind Skye.

Skye tapped the shoulder of the old man Ben had addressed as Dad. "Hey," he said. "Could you, um, explain what's going on here?"

"Sure," he said. "My name's Patrick Gates—the Gates family has been looking for the treasure of the Founding Fathers for generations. My son Ben here has finally managed to piece together all the clues."

"But Ian wants the treasure for himself?" Skye guessed.

"Yes," Patrick said quietly.

"Hey, boss!" someone called.

The entire group gathered around one tomb set into the wall. Several of Ian's goons were already working to break it out of the wall. A stone coffin was pulled away; its bottom collapsed, and the dusty skeleton of Parkington Lane dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

Everyone peered into the tomb. By flashlight, it was clear that it was much more than a tomb: the darkness was far too deep to have ended where the coffin did.

"Okay," Riley said cheerfully. "Who wants to enter the creepy tunnel in the tomb first?"

Ian gestured with his flashlight to Skye, Max, and Webby. "How about our new guests?" he said casually. "They look more than capable of handling themselves."


	5. Status Quo

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Been playing _Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy_. Awesome game. Apparently, the Dissidia games were originally going to be spun off from the Kingdom Hearts series instead of FF… but the idea of "Disney characters fighting each other" made the execs over at Disney "uncomfortable".

Oh, come _on_. As if a Disney tournament-fighting game _wouldn't_ sell seven billion copies. Somebody whip out a petition.

A lot of these notes are relevant, but some not so much, apparently.

**Status Quo**

Skye, Max, and Webby crawled through the hole, emerging one at a time onto an open, wooden walkway. Webby muttered "Fire", and the spell latched onto a wooden torch mounted on the wall.

A group of figures barely inches ahead of them flinched away. In his surprise, Skye inhaled a huge lungful of the dusty air. The utter darkness of the catacombs had blocked the presence of the Heartless from him—a number of standard Shadows forming a ring around a single Large Body.

"Let's do this," Skye said quietly, producing his Keyblade.

He opened with a thrust, straight into—and through—a Shadow's face. It dissipated into black mist. Out of the corner of his eye, Skye spotted Max performing a vicious jumping strike, the tip of his lance splitting a Shadow straight down the middle. The next Shadow in line approached Max fearlessly, but was knocked to the ground by a smash from Max's shoulder. Max stepped over the prone Heartless, on a lookout for the next target, as Skye finished the pitifully flailing monster.

"Feel this!" Webby exclaimed, concentrating her crystal on the Large Body. It took a fireball straight to the head. It turned its tiny head on her, its yellow eyes flaring up.

"Uh-oh," Webby muttered.

Max and Skye were making their way in opposite directions around the Large Body's escorts, and finally met up behind its back.

"Hey," Max said.

"Hi," Skye replied graciously. "The big one's after Webby. Throw me!"

Max held out a hand, and Skye stepped onto it. Max tossed him forcefully toward the Large Body. Skye smacked the beast in the back of its head with the flat edge of his Keyblade, dazing it. He bounced back toward Max, and the two of them moved together to open a pair of gashes in its back.

Skye was hurled over the Large Body's head, and found himself plummeting toward Webby, who broke his fall with a simple spell and lifted the both of them into the air. Aiming his Keyblade downward and aided by some of Webby's magical energy, Skye blasted the Large Body with a jet of light, destroying it.

Max called up the tunnel. "You had the right idea, sending us down first," he said. He plucked the torch off the wall and shed its light all around the enormous catacomb. "The place is crawling with Heartless."

And indeed it was, Skye realized. A great deal of Heartless, a majority of them of them Pureblood, were milling around on the walls, as well as the rope-bound wooden walkways that led downward in immense spirals.

"All right," Ian responded from above. "After you."

Ben crawled through the entrance, closely followed by Riley, Abigail, and Patrick, all of them visibly impressed by the architecture.

Max wagged his eyebrows at Skye. "So. Our first battle! Well executed, wouldn't you say?"

Skye nodded. "Yeah. It was fun… nothing more fun than when you're almost biting the dust, huh?"

Ian's voice rang out from above once again. "All right—Shaw, you're with me. Everybody else, stay here. If anyone should come out without me, well, use your imagination."

Ian and Shaw joined the troupe. "Right," Ian hissed. "Lead the way, Keyblade wielder. Keep us safe."

Skye proceeded down the walkway. By the light of Max's torch and the magical lights that he and Webby had produced, the full scope of the fantastic structure became increasingly apparent.

"How do guys with hand tools build all of this?" Shaw wondered aloud.

"Same way they built the pyramids, and the Great Wall of China," Ben replied.

"Yeah, the aliens helped 'em," Riley said enthusiastically.

Suddenly, a Search Ghost Heartless burst out of the wall, knocking Shaw clear off the path, and sending him plummeting into the darkness.

"Shaw!" Ian bellowed. "No!"

Skye took up arms, realizing that a multitude of Shadows were crawling toward them from high above.

Ian drew his handgun and fired at the Heartless. Their charge was slowed, but many of them were still waiting throughout the ancient catacombs to join the battle.

Max fully impaled the Search Ghost that was reaching for Patrick, but in the process his lance nicked one of the wooden floorboards. That entire portion of the walkway began to dip precariously, before collapsing altogether.

On one half, Ian, Max, and Webby took a tumble off into the dark. Ian desperately grasped at the ropes hanging mysteriously in the center of the chamber. On the other side, Patrick and Riley had scrambled away to a firm portion, but Ben and Abigail were left clinging desperately to the tilting path.

"Ben!" Riley cried.

Skye jumped off the edge, producing the green shoe charm. "Tinker Bell!" he called out.

The pixie appeared instantly, sprinkling him with her own golden dust. Skye found his body growing exceptionally light, and in seconds was flying through the gloom, Tink hot on his heels.

Abigail clawed at the wood as she began to slip, feet-first into the dark. Ben reached for her and clutched her wrist, but the satchel containing the old piece of parchment began to slip off his shoulder.

"The Declaration!" Abigail screamed.

"Do you trust me?" Ben asked.

"Yes!"

Ben let go of Abigail and secured the satchel. Abigail slipped… and landed on a primitive, termite-eaten elevator that was just rising out of the gloom.

Ian was tugging the ropes of the dumb-waiter system, looking thoroughly exhausted. Max and Webby were beside him, clearly worse off for the unexpected impact, and Skye banked in the air, drawing himself up level with the others.

"I'm sorry about that," Ben said, stepping onto the elevator to Abigail's disbelieving gape. "I had to save the Declaration."

"Hey, it's fine," Abigail said flippantly. "I would have done the same for you."

"I'd have dropped you both, freaks," Riley muttered, helping Patrick aboard the elevator.

Ian reversed the motion on the ropes, and the dumb-waiter began a steady, downward plunge, Skye hovering alongside.

"You guys okay?" he said to Max and Webby.

Webby nodded shakily. Tinker Bell fluttered up to her and produced a golden shine, clearing Webby's wounds.

By the time the elevator reached the bottom, Tinker Bell's charm had worn off and she was forced to depart, but by this time the group was back in top condition. They entered a small alcove, decorated only by a single old-fashioned lantern.

"What's this?" Abigail said, turning hopefully to Ben.

"I don't know," Ben replied. "This doesn't make sense."

"There's gotta be another clue, or…" Riley began.

"Hey!" Max cried out suddenly.

While everyone else had been occupied in the alcove, Ian had brought himself and the dumbwaiter back upward, far out of their reach, and had his gun aimed squarely at Ben. Skye, Max, and Webby drew their weapons, but any threat they could make was rather empty.

"Explain," Ian said softly.

"Ian, don't do this," Ben said. "It's not worth it."

"Not worth it?" Ian growled. "Do you think any of your lives are more valuable to me than Shaw's?"

"Just come down here and we'll talk about this."

"Where's the treasure, Gates?"

"I don't know, Ian!" Ben cried.

"The lantern," Patrick said quickly.

"Dad!" Ben said, surprised.

"The lantern signifies the Old North Church in Boston," Patrick said. "Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple to signal to Paul Revere that the British were coming—one if by land, two if by sea. The lantern is the clue. Under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look."

Ian nodded appreciatively. "Thank you," he said, and began pulling the elevator up further.

"Hey!" Riley cried. "You have to take us with you!"

"No I don't," Ian said coolly.

"What if I lied?" Patrick said hastily.

"Did you?" Ian replied, pointing his gun at Patrick.

"What if there's another clue?" Ben said, more calmly.

"Then I know where to find you," Ian said simply. "See you later."

The elevator departed. Skye, Max, and Webby glared up after it.

"Can you summon Tinker Bell again?" Max asked.

Skye held up the charm. "Not until tomorrow, unless you guys have any power-ups on you."

"Hmm… no," Max admitted. "How about the Keyblade Glider?"

"No," Skye said. "The corridor's too narrow."

"Okay, what's really going on here?" Abigail demanded. "The British came by sea. It was two lanterns, not one."

Patrick shrugged. "Ian needed a clue, I gave him a clue."

"A fake clue?" Riley said, gaping. "Great, so instead of Ian shooting us now, he'll come back and shoot us when he realizes we were lying to him. There's no other way out of here!"

Max walked over to Ben, who was staring at the dusty wall of the alcove. "What are you looking at, here?" he said.

"The All-Seeing Eye," Ben whispered. "There _is_ another way out."

"Where?" Riley demanded.

"Through the treasure room," Ben said simply. He pressed on a barely-visible symbol on the door, and the wall fell away.

Everyone gathered around excitedly, viewing… an empty room.

"No," Ben said. "No!" He leapt into the room, casting his torchlight all around helplessly, determined to reveal _something_.

Everyone else filed into the room, slumping down at the realization that the treasure was gone.

"Someone else got here first," Ben muttered. "Someone else took it… or maybe it was never even here."

"Ben… you _did_ it," Patrick said.

Ben blinked at his father. "You said the treasure wasn't real."

"I was wrong," Patrick said. "I've never been happier to be wrong. But you found what the Founding Fathers left behind for us… and you knew what it meant. I'm very proud of you, son."

"Thanks, Dad," Ben said. "I just… you know, I really thought I was gonna find the treasure."

"Well, then…" Abigail said. "Let's go find out where it went! Ben, how do we get out of here?"

Ben furrowed his brow, thinking hard. "I don't know," he said. "It doesn't make sense for there to be only one entrance…"

"What about this other secret door here in the back?" Skye said innocently from his position leaning against the back wall.

All eyes in the room turned to him.

"What?" he said, alarmed. "There's another door right here behind me… I thought you guys all knew."

Riley shot Max a questioning look, and Max shrugged. "Keyblade thing, I guess," he said.

"I guess," Skye said, embarrassed. "Here, let me just, um…"

He stepped away from the wall and aimed his Keyblade at the door. The Key glowed, and the secret door rippled, before falling away just as the first one did.

The second room was unquestionably the _real_ treasure room. As their torchlight entered the room, they saw shelves upon shelves piled with sculptures, old papers, and artifacts of millennia past.

"Wow," Max breathed. "Look at all this stuff!" He took a step forward, then paused to look at Ben. "It's not cursed, is it?"

"I don't believe so," Ben said calmly.

"Sweet," Max said, and he began to rifle through some gold coins, examining each one in turn.

Abigail leaned over several old parchments. "Is this possible?" she whispered.

"Check it out," Riley said, examining a statue. "It's a big blue man with a strange goatee… I'm guessing that's significant."

Webby noticed a tray filled with a strange black powder, an elongated sort of trough that disappeared off into the darkness. "Fire," she whispered, igniting the black powder.

The flames spread, illuminating the room far beyond the simple torchlight. The room seemed to go on forever… as did the treasure.

"The treasure beyond imagining," Ben whispered.

"Riley, are you crying?" Abigail said, surprised.

Riley pointed into the distance. "Look," he said. "…Stairs."

Patrick chuckled. "Well, Ian's going to be in for a surprise, isn't he? I wish I could see the look on his face."

"But you won't be able to," Max said slyly. "You guys aren't exactly in so good with the law, are you?"

Ben tightened his grip on his leather satchel. "Well, we _did_ steal the Declaration of Independence," he said. "But… well, I think we can make bail." He swept his hand across the panoramic scene of the treasure.

Skye laughed. "Well, you guys can deal with that… and we'll take care of Ian. Just tell us how to get to where you sent him."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Here's something I find worth mentioning: Shaw. In the film _National Treasure_, Ian has a number of goons, the most notable being Shaw, a big bald dope who offers a few good one-liners, and carries the honor of being the only character in the film to die. This being a Disney film and him being a thug, he does so by falling from a great height, natch.

Anyway, I debated for a time whether to throw him into the story, or to simply make _all_ of Ian's thugs generic so he comes across as a one-man army. I was leaning toward the latter, figuring that such a minor character would never make an appearance in a _Kingdom Hearts_ game, until I discovered that Shaw is portrayed by David Dayan Fisher—who _Kingdom Hearts_ fans might know as the voice of Xaldin. Yes, the most poisonous personality in Organization XIII is also _National Treasure_'s resident doofus. The polarity was simply too appealing to me! So, I tossed a couple of lines Shaw's way (lines that were originally some other goon's, but still) and gave him a pretty worthy send-off, I think. Pushed off the edge by a Search Ghost—bam!


	6. Something Gathers

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

So… I remember when writing "Aqua Mortis", I wrote in a couple of Muppet characters who a lot of people have probably forgotten about, characters who haven't been seen since _The Muppet Show_ ended—specifically, Uncle Deadly and Thog. And, I'm trying to remember whether I did that before or after I discovered that these very two had appearances in last year's _The Muppets_. I'd like to think it was before, because, as a Muppet fan, that movie couldn't have been more perfect. But maybe it was after, I don't know.

Again, a tangential author's note. There are no Muppets in this chapter. Later in the story, though.

**Something Gathers**

It was nighttime when Ian and his entourage left the Old North Church, having found nothing… and on the front steps, Skye was waiting.

"Hello, Ian," Skye said.

Ian nodded. "Ah. I've been tricked…"

"Yeah, sorry," Max said, stepping in to flank him. "Ben has the treasure, and we're here to bring you to justice."

Ian's lips thinned, and he slowly began oozing black smoke. There was an explosion of darkness, and quite suddenly Ian's cohorts turned into Soldier Heartless, at the very moment that Ian produced his gun and a lit signal flare.

"Don't make this difficult, Ian," Skye warned.

Something else emerged from within the church—something that had to hunch down to half its height to fit through its great double-doors. It reared up, revealing the distinctive round, yellow eyes of a Heartless. It was humanoid and feminine in shape, and appeared to be made of aged, green-tinted bronze. Atop its head was a many-pointed crown, and it brandished a lit torch and a stone tablet.

Ian gazed up at the monster. "Fortunate," he commented. "Let's see how the Keyblade deals with this."

The Heartless advanced, both the troops and the giant, overtaken by the spinning arc of the flare, which exploded at Skye's feet. He didn't evade in time, and instead pursued his target, Ian, with single-minded focus, receiving burns from the flare's sparks for his efforts, but landing a solid three-hit combo on Ian's chest.

Ian retreated behind the immense statue. Its torch was poised high above its head for a downward strike that would surely have crushed Skye if it had connected—as it was, he had to brace himself against the shockwave created, not to mention the beast's follow-through with its slate. Skye took a single over-arching strike, knocking the colossus off-balance. As it stumbled for even footing, Skye ran around it to face Ian, who retreated behind some rather erratic gunfire, while preparing another flare.

Skye shifted his focus back to the giant Heartless, which was once again standing properly and was turning around to face him… slowly. Skye bided his time, and once the things was finally turned towards him, he dove around it once again and performed a mighty leaping attack against a Soldier, dazing it, and destroyed it with a second side-slash.

Cutting through the remainder of the Soldiers, he caught a brief glimpse of Max, parrying a Soldier's claws with his lance and countering with a move so swift and complex that Skye hardly believed what he had seen. Max passed by quickly enough, and Skye systematically began to work on the Soldiers, knowing that taking down Ian and the bronze giant would be all that much easier with the minor Heartless' ranks thinned.

An upper-cut slash caught a Soldier in the neck, and Skye found himself vulnerable, if only for the moment it took for Webby to aim a Fire spell right beneath his arm to eliminate his attacker.

Skye nodded his thanks and noticed Max, his fight having taken him far down the church's front steps. Ian faced Max squarely and took a shot, which Max deflected with a twirl of his lance. A single bounding leap took Skye straight to Ian's side, and both he and Max got in a few nicks before Ian bounded away yet again, as his giant minion had finally lumbered over to them.

Webby and Skye launched icy projectiles at it, which were closely followed by Max's vicious spear, and then a rushing spin attack from Skye. Weak at the knees, the thing slumped slightly, enabling Skye to catch it in the chin with an overhead swipe. The huge Heartless no longer seemed so huge, and the three companions beat at it mercilessly until it somehow managed to get on its feet again and attempt a painfully slow retreat.

Ian, from some concealed location, hurled another exploding flare at them, knocking Max off his feet.

"Max!" Skye cried.

"Take it easy," Max wheezed. "Hey, heads up!"

The bronze Heartless attempted to stomp on Skye. Realizing a parry would do him little good against something so heavy, he evaded, then drove his Keyblade into the back of its knee, allowing him a pivot onto its back and shoulders. He jabbed the hilt of Wide Open Space onto the top of its head repeatedly, until it was forced to poke its own torch into the back of its neck.

The thing slumped once again, and Skye hopped to the ground. He and Webby made a few minor, fairly standard attack routines, and the Heartless faded into black smoke.

Skye offered Max a hand, lifting the squire to his feet. More or less alone on the battlefield, the trio scanned the area for Ian. They found him crouched behind a railing, hastily gulping down a bottle of potion. Skye charged him, backed up by a few well-hit spells from Webby, and drove Ian out of his cover.

In the center of the church's doorway, Ian brandished his gun, managing a single shot before Skye, hot on his heels, managed another whirling attack move. Ian evaded, but ran right into the handle of Max's waiting lance. Twisting his weapon deftly, Max flung Ian over his head, knocking him prone.

Scrambling to his feet, Ian fled, but Skye opened up his inside jacket pocket. "Wally B.!" he declared.

The bee did a double-take upon realizing he was being addressed, but quickly buzzed into the fray, cutting off Ian's retreat and herding him back to even ground.

Ian pointed his gun at Webby, but she jumped clear over his head and out of his reach. Max shoulder-slammed him from behind, pushing him straight toward Skye, who with five deft cuts had Ian flat on his back.

Max produced a rope and tied Ian's hands. "Ben will tell the authorities where you are," Skye promised. "We'll leave you here for them."

They tied him to a streetlight just in front of the church.

"Later!" Max said cheerfully. They turned and began to walk away. "That was great! Dad's got _so_ many stories about the villains he brought to their knees—I love following in those footsteps. And that was our first boss battle as a group! Hey, Wally B., write that down."

Wally B. raised an eyebrow at Max before flitting back into Skye's pocket.

"I'm sure he's getting right on that," Skye said dryly.

"Hey," Webby peeped. "Who's that?"

Max and Skye folowed her gaze to across the street, where two gray-cloaked figures hovered an inch over the sidewalk, their shrouded faces pointed straight at the three of them.

Skye instantly felt a chill up his spine. "Those are Midghosts," he whispered. "They've gotta be. It's just like the illusions Geri showed us."

Max tapped the shaft of his lance against his palm. "Let's go take a look at them, then," he said. "Come on, Webby."

They crossed the street, and the floating creatures waited patiently for them. Skye stepped forward, trying to get a look under the hood of the one nearest him.

He froze in shock. It had his eyes, surely as if he was looking in a mirror. And from the Midghost's blank face, his eyes gazed back at him with disbelief and fear.

Skye didn't realize that he had stopped moving until he noticed a chilly touch upon his shoulders. The very creature who was staring at him as if it were begging for its life had brought its ice-cold, pointy-tipped fingers to his throat.

Skye jumped back and rushed sidelong into his devious assailant's chest. Blood rushed from its chest, much to his surprise—could he have hit it that hard with just his shoulder? He hadn't even expected such a creature to _have_ blood as he understood it. A backhand swipe with the Keyblade knocked it to the ground, and he noticed Max similarly enthralled by the second.

"Snap out of it!" Skye yelled.

Max blinked, and the Midghost had the time to dip out of the way, just being nicked by his rapid stabbing attack. Satisfied, Skye turned to his own Midghost, which had made a full recovery and now hovered above him, more on its guard than before.

Skye spun his Keyblade in a full circle and charged up his attack with pure force magic, then let the magic carry him forward, managing to slam it to the ground yet again.

It lifted its arm. Determined not to lose the advantage for even a second, Skye slipped his Keyblade between the Midghost's back and the ground, and used this lever to hurl it into the air once again, before jumping a solid ten feet straight up and pounding it into the pavement, without a second to prepare itself. This time, it didn't move. Inches away, he saw Max's opponent similarly finished off.

The silence was broken a few second's later by Webby's sobs. She buried her face in the side of Max's leg and didn't remove it.

"What…?" Skye began, but a second later, he understood. The Midghosts' broken bodies were sprawled out on the sidewalk, in pools of their own shining red blood from wounds far more gruesome than than they should have been.

"Yikes," Max muttered, tapping Webby's head gently. "You know, there's bleeding, and then there's just plain showing off."

Skye swallowed past the lump rising in his throat. "They… they don't fade. I thought monsters were supposed to fade into black smoke, or fire, or something…"

"What if they're not monsters?" Webby whispered.

Max lifted one's cowl with the tip of his lance. "They are," he said. "Right, Skye?"

"For sure," Skye said. "I felt a chill from them… a horrid darkness. We… we did the right thing in killing them."

"Kind of makes me feel… I don't know… guilty?" Max said slowly. "The Heartless… you forget they were people."

"This wasn't nearly as easy," Skye agreed. "And… they had my eyes."

Max blinked. "You mean _my_ eyes."

The two of them stared at each other, processing just how different the two of them looked.

"An illusion, then," Skye said. "That's interesting…" He poked a hand in his pocket. "You have all that, Wally B.?"

The sounds of a pen scratching against Wally B.'s notepad were all the answer they needed.

"So, what should we do?" Max whispered. "We can't leave them here…"

"Now Keyblade wielders have to dispose of bodies," Skye grumbled. "Not cool… We could just lug them over to where we left Ian, I guess."

"That'll work," Max said shakily.

They dragged the bodies back to the street lamp, leaning them on Ian's either side.

"Well," Max said simply.

"Yeah," Skye agreed. The three of them turned to walk away. "That's the enemy we're hunting."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

A Gummi ship docked at Disney Castle. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy disembarked, chatting and laughing about years past. Lando made to follow, but Riku hooked him delicately by the elbow and bade him to wait a moment.

"You," Riku said firmly, "are to display proper respect. You will address King Mickey as 'Your Majesty', or, if you must be especially informal, 'King'. At no point am I to hear 'Mickey' out of you."

"Why?" Lando challenged. "_You_ call him Mickey."

"Noted," Riku replied. "But _I_ am a Keyblade Master—a rank considered to be fully on par with the ruler of a world. Mickey, appropriately enough, is both, giving him authority over pretty much everyone. But he and I have had many travels together to get on more personal terms, to get past the fact that he outranks me. You? Well, he outranks you… _a lot_."

Lando dipped his head in a short bow, cornered by the logic.

"Very good," Riku said. "You'll learn respect."

They caught up to Mickey, who had lagged behind the other two in the hallway of the castle. "Hiya, Lando," the King said. "It is Lando, right?"

"Yes, sir," Lando replied, shaking Mickey's hand. Lando was keenly aware of just how big the diminutive king's hands were, and that they only had four fingers. He wasn't missing fingers; four was simply what he had.

"Creepy," Lando breathed to himself.

"Riku, I'm glad you came," Mickey said, suddenly serious. "You see, an old enemy of mine has resurfaced: the Phantom Blot."

Mickey removed the dusty sheet from a statue on the wall, an oversized statue of the Blot in all his sinister glory.

"Nice reveal," Riku commented.

"Thanks," Mickey said. "You see, centuries ago, the Phantom Blot took over this world, by stealing all of its color and using it to fuel his powers. When I discovered the Keyblade, I decided it was time to end the world's economic suffering. I fought the Blot down from his throne, imprisoned him, returned color to the world, and built Disney Castle over the Cornerstone of Light. This, of course, was… wow, more than ninety years ago."

"Wow," Lando echoed, craning his neck to look up at the statue. "So, this guy's been in prison ever since?"

Mickey raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like the kind of man who gives ninety-year prison sentences?"

Lando looked over the King. "I'm gonna be honest here, I don't know _what_ kind of man you look like."

Riku shot an angry glare at Lando, but Mickey only laughed.

"Ha-ha! Well, fair enough. But no, the Blot is a repeat offender. He gets himself caught… I do the best I can to imprison or banish him, but he finds his way back to town to make trouble again."

"Sounds like more trouble than he's worth," Riku commented. "Can't you just destroy him?"

Lando scowled. That had been exactly what he had been about to say, but he had a feeling that if he had, his Master would have admonished him.

"Trust me, I've thought about it," Mickey said. "Killing him might seem like the perfect solution, but it's not that easy. The Blot doesn't command the Keyblade, but he's learned to replicate most of its powers. He's exactly as powerful as I am. I can subdue him, sure… but that's as far as it goes. If he ever realized his dream, claimed a Keyblade for himself… well, he'd be just about unstoppable."

Riku inhaled deeply as he contemplated this information. "And you have reason to believe he's gotten out again?"

"Yes," Mickey said solemnly.

Donald and Goofy came back from around the corner. "Hey, we're checkin' the Blot's status," Goofy said. "Lando, you want to join us?"

"Yeah, sure," Lando said, following them.

Mickey turned to look up at Riku. "So…" he said. "Lando."

"Yeah," Riku said quietly.

"The kind of kid who gets a lot of dirty looks from his teacher, if I'm not mistaken," Mickey said. "I've been on both sides of that, with Yen Sid and… well, you."

"Uh-huh," Riku said, smirking. "Not the most polite guy in the cosmos, I'm afraid. But a solid student… Strong. Fights with a passion. After all, the Filthy Fang Keyblade has its place in the pages of history. Not only did he inherit it, but he's learned to split it into two. We'd thought that particular dual-wielding art had been lost with the Keyblade War."

Mickey eyed Riku curiously for a few seconds. Riku chuckled and added, "Also, according to his records, he's responsible for more than half of the graffiti at the Keyblade Academy. That's the kind of credential that catches my attention." The two of them laughed together.

"Haha!" Mickey squeaked. "He _is_ very strong, I've noticed… strength has a price, sometimes."

"I know," Riku said coldly. "Believe me, I know."

"Hey, listen," Mickey reassured him hastily. "You know, I was pushing a hundred when we met, but I still needed you to teach me that not all darkness is bad. So, you know well enough to watch for temptation."

"Of course," Riku whispered.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

On a plateau overlooking the Keyblade Graveyard, several beings gathered in a circle around a perfectly round pool of blue water reflecting the harsh sun—two men, two women, and two beings not quite so easy to describe.

"Hello," Dr. Facilier said to the group. "Welcome to the Brotherhood. Our goal is unity and friendship, that all our darkest dreams might come true. I believe introductions are in order." He straightened his jacket. "I am called Dr. Facilier, the voodoo man, the shadow man, the man with friends on the other side. To my right we have the Phantom Blot, ancient enemy of Mickey Mouse and one of the mightiest forces in the great World."

The Blot bowed lightly. "Thank you, sir."

Dr. Facilier produced some white index cards and shuffled them, before reading them. "To _his_ right… is Mother Gothel. A wielder of darkness, to be sure. But she also has contact with a powerful relic of light that keeps her young and beautiful."

The woman threw back the cowl of her dark green cloak over her red dress, letting her curly black hair frizz out. "Aw, you," she said flirtatiously, waving dismissively to Facilier.

Facilier slid the next card to the top of the pile, eyeing the creature across from him—a purple, eight-limbed reptilian creature with bulging, squinty eyes. "Here we have Randall Boggs, the… second-scariest monster in the known universe." He smirked.

"Uh-huh, how about you lick me, voodoo boy?" Randall sneered.

"And… hmm…" Facilier growled, eyeing the next member of the group, who appeared to be a lime-green racecar covered in stickers… save the massive pair of eyes where a windshield would be and the fact that it was very clearly breathing. "Chick Hicks," Facilier enunciated. "Record-holder for second-place finishes in his homeworld's Piston Cup… I'm noticing a pattern."

"Hey," Chick said dangerously. "I _won_ the Piston Cup last year, okay? If nobody appreciates my dirty tactics, that's _their_ problem. I'm gonna win this year and get respect for it—using the power of darkness! Right? Right?" He looked around at the group hopefully.

Randall looked Chick over with apprehension. "Aren't you the Buick I rented in high school?" he said.

"Oh, that's real nice," Chick grumbled. "I'm the one who's among aliens here, you know!"

"Eh, I wouldn't say that," Randall replied. "Cars don't talk in most places. I'm just saying."

"Gentlemen!" Facilier interrupted. "Please… we're in the middle of our introductions. Who's our last… ah, yes. Miss Dominique Destine." He looked at the woman directly to his left, a green-eyed redhead in a simple business suit. "What do you do again?"

She blinked slowly. "Wait for sunset and see for yourself, human. That should tell you all you need to know."

"Ha!" Facilier barked. "I like the sound of that! Well… why don't y'all get to know each other whilst I confer with our leaders. If they think we're a good team, they'll divulge their identities to you." He turned to leave.

"Is it Maleficent?" Randall inquired.

Facilier started. "What?"

"Sorry if I ruined the surprise," Randall said, shrugging. "In my line of work, there's a lot of world travel. Somebody gathering up darkness-slingers from all over the worlds? Sounds like Maleficent."

"It's not Maleficent," Facilier said firmly.

Randall shrugged. "Okay."

"And as I was saying… _yes_, Randy?" Facilier narrowed his eyes at Randall, who had raised one of his three-fingered hands in the air.

"Uh, yeah," Randall said, "I don't believe you've licked me yet."

"Hey!" the Phantom Blot said sharply, advancing on Randall. "We are a Brotherhood! There will be no infighting here! That's what's sure to destroy us all."

Dr. Facilier hopped across the small pool of water and slipped between Randall and the Blot, diffusing their glares. "Thank you, Mr. Blot," he said gently. "See, I'm here to support you, and you…" He wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders. "All of you," he concluded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, our employers await." He vanished into darkness.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Aros13 has pledged himself as a devoted reader. Excellent. I always wanted one of those. Heh. Welcome aboard! Prepare for the ride of your life, the single greatest work of FanFiction in the universe! MUA-HA-HA-HA!


	7. Next Adventure

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

So, as if anyone here didn't know, only four days until _3D_ comes out… in Japan. And so are those of us in the West left with a dilemma: to find out as many spoilers as possible, or to not?

I remember when it was first announced, they promised all new Disney worlds, and to prove it, showed off footage of the _Notre Dame_ world, which was nothing but absolute awesomeness! From there, though, it was a bit disappointing. _Pinocchio_, _Tron: Legacy_, _Fantasia_, _Three Musketeers_, that's an awfully loose definition of "new worlds". But then something hit me, and hit me hard. They're not out of ideas, and they're not holding out on us… they're saving the good stuff for _Kingdom Hearts III_! How did I not see it before?

_Edited for clarity and stuff_

**Next Adventure**

Skye, Max, and Webby landed on a high plateau, with jagged stones and sharp cracks all around. They were standing, they found, on a sheer cliff, and opposite them, miles away, was a waterfall more beautiful than any other they had seen before.

"Wow," Skye breathed. "It's beautiful…"

"Yeah," Max agreed. He turned his head, and found himself staring into a face consisting entirely of an emblem and a huge mouth.

"Yikes!" Webby squeaked. The three of them backed away, further from the cliff.

Several others popped out of thin air; sinuous, white-skinned figures with an odd, floppy method of walking.

"What are these things?" Skye demanded.

Wally B. scribbled something on a sheet of paper and passed it to Skye, who squinted at it while still trying to stay out of reach of the advancing beings. "Ducks?" he said, confused.

"What?" Max demanded. "Let me see that." He took the piece of paper and sighed. "That's _Dusks_."

"Oh, sorry," Skye said. "It's all scrunched together. How is King André supposed to get any information from—agh!"

One of the Dusks had come forward and scratched him. Skye backhanded it, hurling it off the cliff. Jumping forward with a deft spin, he cut down several others. Behind him, Max charged into melee while Webby kept her distance.

The Dusks danced and flipped, more interested in evasion than in actual combat. But Skye quickly discerned their motivation; they were trying to drive them off the cliff, to join the first Dusk Skye had attacked.

Webby blasted several Dusks who were moving around to flank and herd; Max, being flanked too closely to effectively use his long lance, kicked at a Dusk's face, driving it away, dazed. With an opening in the crowd, Max darted forward and turned around to knife his lance into several Dusks' midsections.

The one he had kicked got to its feet and wrapped an arm around his neck. Seeing Max and the Dusk entangled in a grapple, Skye tossed his Keyblade, and the Dusk quickly dissipated.

When the blade returned to his grasp, Skye performed a simple twirl, and all of the strange white-skinned creatures, all of them having flocked around this seemingly unarmed foe, were defeated.

"Sneaky little things, aren't they?" Skye muttered. "They weren't Heartless. Not even particularly darkness-related."

"Ask the bee," Max suggested. "He knew what they were called, maybe he can tell you more."

Skye nodded and prepared to open his jacket pocket, then did a double-take at something approaching from far away on the plateau. "What in the world?" he muttered.

Max and Webby followed his stunned stare, and joined him in gawking at what appeared to be thousands and thousands of multicolored balloons, a mass of them many times the size of a house—fitting, because dangling from it, and floating, was a quaint and adorable little house.

"Is that a house?" Skye demanded. "I think that's a house."

"A _flying_ house," Webby added.

"No kidding…" Max said, enthralled.

The three of them next noticed the figures walking beneath the house. The first one to catch their eye was the shaggy, golden dog, frolicking and running in circles. The other two were attached to the house with its own green rubber garden hose: a chubby little boy in a scout's uniform, covered head to toe in various bits and pieces of survival gear, hooked up to the hose by a bright orange rope. Then, the stooped, square old man, barely taller than the little boy, wearing the garden hose itself as a harness.

"Let's go talk to them," Skye said. The others nodded in agreement.

The three of them approached, arms wide to show they meant no harm. Just as the old man and the small boy seemed to notice them, however, an enormous multicolored bird appeared out of nowhere and tackled the three of them, hissing and shrieking in their faces.

"Kevin, wait!" the boy yelled. "They're not going to hurt anyone."

The bird, thirteen feet tall, flightless, and magnificently plumed, backed off and stood at attention next to the boy. Skye got to his feet shakily.

"Boy, am I happy to finally see another person here," the old man grumbled. "Are you three from around here?"

"Um, no sir," Skye said. "We're just dropping in. I'm Skye, this is Max and Webby… settle a bet, is that a house?"

The golden dog bounded over to Skye then, and reared up to look him in the eye. The dog wore a collar with various mechanisms and lights stitched into it, and from the collar came a voice with odd inflections and tones: "_I am Dug. I have just met you, and I love you. That man there is my new master, and he is taking his house to Paradise Fa—SQUIRREL!_"

The dog turned his head, ears raised, and sat motionless for a brief moment before turning back to Skye. "_Taking his house to Paradise Falls_," the dog's voice finished. "_Did I say that already? My new master says that I may take the bird back to camp as my prisoner._"

The dog dropped back to all fours and began sniffing at their feet, leaving Skye rather dumbfounded.

"Is that your talking dog?" he said casually.

"Ye—um, no," the old man said, flustered. "No, he's not my dog and I'm not his master. Listen… Skye, was it?"

"Yes, sir," Skye said.

"Carl Fredricksen, happy to meet you," he said tersely, clearly not meaning it at all. "Now, would you mind taking this dog and this bird off of my hands? Escort them to wherever it is they're going? I need to get my house to Paradise Falls before the helium leaks out of these balloons, and they're slowing me down!"

"Um, sure, Mr. Fredricksen," Skye said uncertainly. "I suppose I could help you out, but…"

As Skye struggled with words, Max stepped in. "Hey, little guy," he said. "You haven't mentioned what brought _you_ here."

"Oh, yes!" the little boy said. "My name's Russell, and I'm a Wilderness Explorer." He indicated his sash, covered in badges save for one notable spot. "I came to Mr. Fredricksen to earn my Assisting the Elderly badge, and… well, one thing led to another, I guess."

The huge bird, meanwhile, had turned to face the distant horizon of the huge plateau. It screeched, and was greeted by high-pitched calls in return.

"What's Kevin doing?" Russell asked.

"_The bird is calling to her babies,_" Dug explained.

"Her babies!" Russell said excitedly. He frowned. "Kevin's a girl?"

"_The bird has been gathering food for her babies,_" Dug continued. "_They live way out there in those twisty-rocks._"

Kevin gently nuzzled Russell, screeched in Mr. Fredricksen's face, and strutted away.

"Kevin's leaving?" Russell asked. "Mr. Fredricksen, we have to go with her."

"No," Mr. Fredricksen replied. "We've lost enough time as it is."

"Hey, Russell," Max said. "We can keep an eye on her, if you like."

Before anyone could respond, an enormous ring of Dusks appeared, encircling all of them beneath the floating house.

"_Uh-oh,_" Dug commented, hanging his head.

Two Dusks stepped aside, and an enormous black Doberman entered the ring. It wore a collar just like Dug's, and spoke… in a thin, painfully squeaky voice.

"_Well? Where is the bird? You said you had the bird._"

Dug shuffled on his feet, embarrassed. "_Yes,_" he replied. "_Since I have said that, I can see why you would think that_…"

"_You lost it?_" the other dog snarled. "_Why do I not have a surprised feeling? Well, at least you have led us to the small mailman and the one who smells of prunes._"

"Dug, who is this guy?" Russell said shakily.

"_He is Alpha,_" Dug replied. "_He is leader of my old master's dog pack._"

"_Master will not tolerate your failure,_" Alpha sneered. "_Nobodies, attack!_"

The Dusks shuffled inward for the attack.

"No!" Mr. Fredricksen roared. "Get away from my house!"

Skye brandished his Keyblade. "Stay back!" he warned.

Alpha responded with a snap of his jaws. Skye parried, and Alpha jumped over his head. Skye whirled, and whacked Alpha across the rump with his most basic attack pattern. Alpha darted away. Max attempted to tackle him, but missed, but Mr. Fredricksen slammed Alpha's ribcage with his metal, four-footed cane. Alpha growled and ducked behind a wall of Dusks.

"Blizzard!" Skye shouted, hurling an ice block into the face of the nearest Dusk. "Aero!" he added, conjuring a tiny windstorm that killed some of them and swept the others off their feet.

Mr. Fredricksen used his cane to defeat one of the Dusks, but some larger Nobodies reared up in front of him. These crossbow-wielding creatures stood motionless and fired bolts at the combatants. Skye immediately struck upward, into a larger Nobody's chest. Mr. Fredricksen produced a can from the pocket of his trousers and tossed it at the eyepatch-wearing face of one of the bolters. The creature disintegrated.

"Wow," Skye commented. "What was in that can?"

"Dried prunes, they'll kill anything," Mr. Fredricksen grunted back. "Watch yourself, kid!"

Alpha had leapt back into the fray, straight into Webby's waiting arms. Her magic exploded in his face, and as he tried to evade, Max struck.

Alpha danced around their attacks for a moment, before biting hard into Skye's wrist. Skye cried out, and Mr. Fredricksen's cane cracked across Alpha's skull, knocking him to the ground.

As Mr. Fredricksen clutched his shoulder, having apparently cracked it with his own attack, Skye, Max, and Webby rushed over to Alpha, who bounded to his feet and withdrew from the battle once again, this time hiding behind four enormous Nobodies wielding T-shaped metal clubs.

Skye and Webby used a fire spell in unison, obliterating one of them, while a deft spinning move from Max had two others reeling on their heels. Mr. Fredricksen managed to recover as the fourth passed in front of him, and slammed it in the back.

"Mr. Fredricksen," Skye said urgently, holding out a hand to the elder.

"I'm fine," he said gruffly. "Let me do this!" Skye obliged, stepping back to allow the squat old man to stab upwards into a gigantic Nobody's gut. Cane and Keyblade took down its defenses, and soon this one faded away as well.

From right behind the huge Nobody, Alpha sprang up and knocked Skye back.

"_Hold,_" he said coldly.

Skye narrowed his eyes.

"_Your friends have no weapons,_" Alpha informed him.

Skye looked around frantically, and saw that Max and Webby were being held hostage by several Dusks. One, standing several feet away, held Max's lance and Webby's crystal.

"No fair," Max said weakly.

"_I am taking you all back to my camp,_" Alpha said. "_Unless you are to be having any objections, tiny man with key?_"

Skye lowered his weapon. "No," he said. "You go right ahead… lead on."


	8. Not What We Expect

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

So, _Up_. I actually wonder if this one has potential to really be in the series! Not every Disney film that provides such an RPG-ready action set-piece as the top of the _Spirit of Adventure_! Though not especially high on my list. I very much relate to Carl Fredricksen, he's very similar to my grandfather. Glasses, outfit, cane, hairstyle, it's actually uncanny. My grandfather usually has a mustache and is actually quite tall, but other than that, it's like watching my grandpa in his own action movie!

**Not What We Expect**

Alpha and the Nobodies escorted the group down the mountain, through crags and canyons where more Nobodies, all of them of one of the three varieties they had already seen, stood high above and stared at them as they passed.

Finally, the cavern narrowed and darkened, and Alpha halted the procession. A sharp, hunched figure appeared just inside the concealing shadows. The man's glinting eyes surveyed the group and then looked up at the house.

"You came here… in that?" said a frail old voice. "A floating house?" He chuckled, and the Nobodies joined in—a whispered rustling that sent shivers up Skye's spine. "You're not after my bird, are you?" the man guffawed. "Of course, if you need to borrow a cup of sugar, I'd be happy to oblige! Heh heh… clearly, this is all a misunderstanding. My Nobodies made a mistake."

"Wait…" Mr. Fredricksen muttered. "Are you Charles Muntz?"

"Why, yes," the man said, stepping out of the shadows. "Adventure is out there!" He appeared immeasurably old, with thin white hair and dressed in a leather jacket with a fur collar.

"It's Charles Muntz!" Carl said excitedly, rushing up to the taller man as quickly as his legs could carry him. "Mr. Muntz, I'm Carl Fredricksen. My wife and I… oh, we were your biggest fans!"

"Eh, you're a man of good taste," Muntz said, laughing at his own joke once again. "Well, you must be tired? Hungry? Why don't you all come in?"

At the urging of the Nobodies, Skye, Max, Webby, and Russell proceeded into the deep cave, dragging the floating house through the entrance.

Within the cave, an enormous silvery blimp was moored. _Spirit of Adventure_ was written on its side in an elegant font. Carl and Russell tied the house's hose to a stake near the huge dirigible.

"Sorry about the Nobodies," Muntz said, lowering his voice so Skye was forced to lean in to hear him. "They're much more efficient than when my pack was all dogs, but at the same time… the Dusks are none too bright, and the others, they're just waiting for the right opportunity to turn against me… quite a few of them have done it, too. Thankfully… the mountain produces no shortage of them."

Skye narrowed his eyes, wondering what the implications of that entire pronouncement could be. But Mr. Fredricksen interrupted his train of thought.

"We're not going into the _Spirit of Adventure_ itself?" he said eagerly.

"But of course," Muntz replied with a lopsided smile. His eyes fell on Skye, who was overcome by a vision of angry, narrow red eyes.

Skye stumbled as Muntz led the troupe up the gangplank into the blimp. "What the hey just happened?" he muttered.

"You okay, man?" Max said.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said.

"And what brings _you_ young explorers here?" Muntz said to Skye.

"We're hunting Midghosts," Skye said boldly. "Studying them. Seen any?"

"Hmm, yes," Muntz said, chuckling. "Bothersome, aren't they?"

As Muntz continued guiding them through a spacious hall, Skye, Max, and Webby deliberately fell behind.

"I wonder what exactly these 'Nobodies' are?" Skye muttered.

"I wish I knew," Max said. "Feel like they're important for some reason. Didn't you go to Keyblade Academy to learn these things?"

"I got the abridged version," Skye said. "I only went for a year, remember? So, you know, I got to skip some stuff."

Wally B. held up his pad, where he had written a message. _If the Heartless are the night, and real people are the day, Nobodies are the twilight._

Skye glared at Wally B. "Really? Oh, come on. What could that possibly even mean?"

Wally B. scowled and returned to writing.

Alpha stepped up to Muntz. "_Master, dinner is ready,_" he squeaked.

"Whoop, broken translator," Muntz said. "Let me see…" He adjusted Alpha's electric collar. "There you go."

"_Thank you, Master,_" Alpha said in a resonant, terrifying bass.

"Uh, I liked his other voice better," Russell said nervously.

The group was led into a dining room, where several Dusks brought in expensive food and high-quality drinks.

"Oh, Ellie would have loved this," Mr. Fredricksen said sadly. "You know, it was because of you that she had this dream to bring the house to Paradise Falls."

"I'm honored," Muntz said sincerely. "It's a real pleasure to have guests… more often I get thieves, come to steal what's rightfully mine."

Muntz gestured to something behind the table—the tattered skeleton of an enormous bird… a bird exactly like the one that had just left the floating house's company.

"They called me a fraud," Muntz said darkly. "But once I bring this creature back, my name will be cleared. Beautiful, isn't she? Seventy years I've been here, trying to capture it, the other one. Sometimes years go by between sightings… and it always flees, back to its labyrinth. You can't go in after it. When the Nobodies aren't thinning their own ranks with their needless mind games, I'm losing them in there…"

Muntz was lost in his wild imaginings. Wally B. passed Skye another scrap of paper. In large letters, it said simply, _NOBODIES ARE BAD NEWS_.

Skye looked around, and realized that the Dusks and their brethren were packed in tightly around the edges of the room, trapping them all at the table.

"You don't say," Skye whispered.

"And here they come, these bandits," Muntz continued, "thinking the bird is theirs to take! They soon find that this mountain is a very dangerous place."

Skye glanced over to Mr. Fredricksen and saw that he was noticeably horrified. Russell, occupied with his meal, seemed to notice the skeleton for the first time. "Hey, that looks like Kevin!" he said.

"Kevin?" Muntz inquired.

"Yeah, the giant bird," Russell said. "I trained her to follow us!"

"Trained her?" Muntz said. "That's impossible. How?"

"She likes chocolate."

"Chocolate," Muntz repeated.

"But it ran away!" Mr. Fredricksen said hastily. "It's gone now."

Muntz stared at Carl in silence for a moment. "You know, Carl…" he said. "The people who come down here, they tell some pretty neat stories." He stepped up to a table, where numerous flight helmets were on display. "A surveyor making a map… a botanist collecting plants…" He knocked two of the helmets off the table. "An old man taking his house to Paradise Falls… I mean, that's the best one yet. I can't wait to hear how it ends."

Skye and Carl exchanged looks. Over Carl's shoulder, Skye could see the old man's house, and perched atop the roof was the bird herself. Covertly, Skye motioned for Carl to look behind him. Carl managed a peek.

"Well, we should be going," he said. "Come on, Russell."

"No, please…" Muntz said menacingly. "Stay. We have so much more to discuss…"

Kevin cawed from its perch on the floating house. Everyone froze.

"Kevin?" Russell said.

Muntz gazed out the window, entranced. "It's here…" he breathed.

"GO!" Max yelled. He jumped over the table and slammed Muntz in the head with the butt of his lance.

"Come on, move!" Webby cried. She focused her crystal on Russell and Mr. Fredricksen, and a powerful gust of wind helped them speed out into the corridor.

"Get them!" Muntz snarled to the Nobodies. Skye, Max, and Webby fled.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The old man and the small boy harnessed themselves up to the house again, but Nobodies began to converge on them from all sides.

"_Master!_" came Dug's voice from deep within a tunnel. "_This way! Go toward the light, Master!_"

But Nobodies were swarming from that direction as well. Kevin jumped down from the house and scooped up Russell and Dug onto her back, stomping on the Nobodies so that they faded into darkness.

"She's clearing a path!" Skye said. "Come on, Mr. Fredricksen!"

Carl had his cane at the ready and was hesitantly backing away, his eyes on the oncoming horde.

"We can't fight them all!" Skye said frantically. "We've got to run! Follow Kevin through the clear path!"

Kevin destroyed many Nobodies as she charged. Skye, Max, Webby, and old Mr. Fredricksen followed behind her in formation, keeping a steady pace and picking off any Nobodies that happened to get in their way, all while very well aware that the biggest swarm of them was still coming in from behind.

Out under the open sky, they found themselves on a treacherous rocky slope. Mr. Fredricksen slipped, but Max helped him to his feet and quickly got him onto Kevin's back as well. The horde of Nobodies, led by Alpha, burst out of the shadows.

Kevin ran on, but found herself on a cliff overlooking a river. She skidded to a stop, but her momentum was still carrying the house forward, and it pulled her and her three riders over the edge at the precise moment that Alpha caught up and dug his teeth into her leg.

Skye jumped after, batting Alpha away. The dog tumbled down into the river, and Skye grabbed Kevin's leg as she began to plummet. She barely made the opposite bank, and she and the others collapsed in a heap.

Webby magicked herself and Max across the river, where the Nobodies stood, silently staring at their lost quarry.

Russell examined Kevin's leg and quickly began bandaging it. "She's hurt bad!" he said.

"Let me," Skye offered. "Heal!"

The leafy green energy spread over Kevin. She wailed pitifully. Skye stared at his Keyblade, the source of his magic, as if it had betrayed him.

"I… I don't have it in me to be of any real help," he muttered. "I'm… I'm just an apprentice…"

"That's okay, I'm just a Junior Wilderness Explorer," Russell said. He examined the bandages, which were already becoming blood-soaked. "Mr. Fredricksen… she_ has _to get home. We need to help her."

Carl nodded. "Okay. Let's take her."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Well, it's always difficult when you're writing fanfiction at the same time as people are just grabbing the new installment, but, what are you gonna do. I'm sticking to my guns! I've got the story planned completely in advance, with absolutely no influence from _KH3D—_or any from _KHIII_ if the story takes that long!


	9. Let It All Out

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Waiting for that gosh-darned North American release, yeah? Bada-boom! Read the end credits, though. Near the end of the cast list was the name Julius, and I'm thinking, who the heck is Julius? But I found out. Boy, did I find out. I watched _Runaway Brain_, hot damn… no wonder it's a cult classic. Finishing that boss fight will be immensely satisfying… to somebody. Me, I've never defeated a _KH _secret boss in my life. Still awesome.

More importantly, during the credits characters interact with little floating English letters. One letter at a time, they spell out "_This leads to KINGDOM HEARTS_"… and then there are a few shots of three people standing together. Are they trying to make our heads explode with ecstasy or something? Awesome!

I admit this chapter's not very good. Could be more exciting. I'm just going through the motions trying to fight through this depression that sometimes gets me. I'll make it good later.

**Let It All Out**

The group trekked through the forest, the house sinking more and more with every passing minute. Kevin rested on the porch, while Dug scouted ahead and Skye, Max, and Webby guarded the group's back.

Wally B. provided them with rough sketches providing details on the abilities of the various kinds of Nobodies, particularly those that had already been seen to be under Muntz's control—Dusks, Berserkers, and Snipers.

"We've got to be on our guard," Skye said. "If we're gonna be traveling the worlds like this… I mean, we've been having fun, but this can get serious real quick."

Leaving the forest, they saw the mouth of a misty maze of rocks. From within came the chirping call of Kevin's babies, and Kevin herself hopped to the ground and eagerly hobbled toward the entrance.

"Yay!" Russell said. "Go, Kevin, go!"

A net sailed out from the forest and entangled Kevin, pinning her to the ground. Before anyone there could react, hordes of Nobodies appeared, surrounding Kevin as well as her chief protectors, Skye and his friends.

"Kevin!" Russell yelled.

A huge light appeared in the sky, and the _Spirit of Adventure_ blimp loomed over them, dwarfing Carl's house.

"Come on, we've got to get to her!" Skye said frantically, slashing at the Berserkers forming a ring around him. Muntz came down the ramp, followed by Alpha. Skye could barely see around the looming Berserkers, but it seemed that a group of Dusks were dragging the trapped Kevin past him.

"Easy, don't hurt her now," Muntz warned them. "We want her in good shape for my return!"

Carl downed a Sniper with his cane, and charged at the Nobodies gathered around the net. Muntz watched Mr. Fredricksen's attempts by the light of a lantern, then tossed the lantern at Carl's house, setting it ablaze.

"No!" Carl yelled. He turned on his heel and took off his coat, trying to beat the fire out.

"Come back here with Kevin!" Russell cried out.

The gangplank was already being raised. Muntz and Alpha had departed with the bird, leaving plenty of Nobodies behind.

Skye sliced through them in his fury, Max and Webby behind him aiding in the destruction. Sweating and panting, they mindlessly hacked at every last one while Carl finished putting out the fire on his house.

When it was quiet, Russell gaped at shock at Mr. Fredricksen. "They took Kevin," Russell said. "And you let them. You just… let them."

"This is none of my concern," Fredricksen muttered, then spun on the whole group angrily. "I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS!"

Dug stepped forward. "_Don't worry, Master. It'll be okay._"

"I am not your master!" Mr. Fredricksen snapped. "And if you hadn't shown up, none of this would have happened! You're a bad dog! Bad dog!"

Dug hung his head and slunk away.

"Now, whether you assist me or not," Mr. Fredricksen growled, replacing his harness, "I am going to Paradise Falls if it kills me!"

He began stalking away, Russell following him sadly. Skye stopped, turning to consult Max and Webby.

"What should we do?" he asked.

"We have to go save Kevin!" Webby exclaimed.

"I don't know," Max said. "Isn't there a rule about not interfering with other worlds?"

"Eh, not really," Skye said. "Master Sora kind of shot that rule in the face years ago, so I heard…"

"Besides," Webby said, "Muntz controls Nobodies, and that's part of our business!"

"Yeah, that's true," Max said. "Like the bee said, Nobodies are bad news…"

"But, still…" Skye muttered. "We'd be mounting this rescue all on our own. I think it's best to stay on the path that the Keyblade guided us to, and that means sticking with Mr. Fredricksen's house. It can't be chance, it has to lead to… something."

Max shrugged. "It's your call, buddy. You're the guy with the gigantic, absurdly sharp key."

"Okay," Skye said. "Well, then, let's move on and see where fate takes us."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The house scraped to a stop, the balloons no longer able to keep it airborne.

They had arrived at the falls. Being right next to it wasn't nearly as impressive as viewing it from a distance, but Mr. Fredricksen seemed satisfied, breathing a deep sigh.

"Here," Russell said, flinging his sash to the ground. "I don't want this anymore." He stomped away.

Ignoring him, Mr. Fredricksen walked up the steps into his house. He righted a pair of comfortable armchairs and sat down in one, listening to the distant sound of the falls.

"Is this it?" Max said. "Is this the end of the story? It can't be…"

Skye gazed sadly at Wide Open Space. "I guess we can't make _everyone_ happy," he said. "Call your pods, guys. We're moving on."

Max produced a key ring and pushed a button, to activate the Gummi pods and call them to their current location. The trio stood and waited.

Nearly a minute passed before the vehicles arrived. Mr. Fredricksen exited the house, carrying a thick, leather-bound book. "Russell?" he called.

Russell appeared atop the house. He had tied a few dozen balloons to himself, and was armed with a leafblower. Firing up its engine, he blasted into the air.

"I'm going to help Kevin!" he declared. "Even if you won't!"

"No!" Mr. Fredricksen cried frantically. But Russell had already vanished into the mist.

"Russell!" Skye cried out, conjuring his Keyblade Glider as Max and Webby hopped into their pods.

"Skye, wait!" Mr. Fredricksen said. The three turned back to him disdainfully.

"Help me lighten up my house!"

He tossed a chair onto the dusty ground, shattering it. Skye, Max, and Webby lit up. They hopped out of their vehicles and rushed back to the house.

"What changed your mind?" Skye asked.

Mr. Fredricksen held up the book, opening it to the final page. There was a faded photograph of Mr. Fredricksen and a woman, side-by-side on two armchairs.

Written in an elegant script was a message: _Thanks for the adventure… Now go have a new one! Love, Ellie._

Skye inhaled sharply, and a single tear flowed down his cheek. "See?" he said. "That's why we always gotta keep going."

"Let's do this thing," Max said solemnly.

The four of them entered the house, indiscriminately gathering up all of Mr. Fredricksen's personal possessions and hurling them out willy-nilly. Minutes later, when the house was almost stripped bare, it lifted off.

"YES!" Mr. Fredricksen roared.

"WHOO!" Max yelled. "We're off!"

Carl headed into the living room, where the mechanism for steering the house was set up.

"Muntz will be heading north," he said determinedly, unfurling the sails set up on the house's sides. "Keep an eye out for trouble, kids…"

There was a knock on the door.

"What the hey?" Skye blurted.

"Russell?" Carl said hopefully, running at his hobbling top speed to answer. "Dug!" he exclaimed in delight.

Dug, sitting on the porch, hung his head. "_I was hiding under your porch because I love you,_" he said apologetically. "_Can I stay?_"

"Can you stay?" Mr. Fredricksen roared. "Well, you're my dog, aren't you? Good boy, Dug. You're a good boy!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"_Master,_" said Alpha's deep, menacing voice. "_The small mailman has returned._"

"What?" Muntz muttered. He followed Alpha to the blimp's hangar, where the Dusks had tied Russell to a chair.

"Where's your elderly friend?" Muntz said coolly.

"He's not my friend anymore," Russell retorted.

Muntz ignored him. "Alpha, keep the bird guarded. If you see the old man, you know what to do."

A Dusk made some hissing and clicking noises.

"Drop him," Muntz replied simply.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The house swooped in on the dirigible. The exit ramp was being lowered, and Russell on his chair was slowly slipping toward the end.

"Catch him!" Mr. Fredricksen called out.

Skye bolted out the front door on his glider, picking up Russell by the ropes and swinging back around to the house, setting him down in the living room.

"Don't untie him!" Carl said. "We're getting Kevin. _You_ are staying here!"

"But I wanna help!" Russell protested.

"I don't want your help!" Carl snapped. "I want you safe."

Skye, Webby, Max, Carl, and Dug jumped from the house to the ramp, and entered the blimp. Russell began struggling against his bonds.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The five of them moved stealthily through the dirigible's ventilation systems. Finally, they came just above a room where Kevin was trapped in a tall cage, with Alpha and a group of Berserkers and Snipers gathered around her.

"_Guard well that bird, my minions,_" Alpha rumbled. "_Allow no one to be entering through these doors._"

Alpha departed.

"How are we gonna get past these Nobodies?" Mr. Fredricksen whispered.

Skye pointed his Keyblade at the enemy group, blasting them with a jet of light. "That's how," he said.

Dozens of faceless visages turned up toward them. Max was first to take action, dropping to the ground and cleanly spearing a Berserker. Webby followed suit, releasing a pulse of electricity all through the floor of the room, zapping a majority of the guards.

Skye helped Mr. Fredricksen drop down to the ground, shielding him from a barrage of missiles from a Sniper.

"Much appreciated," Carl said. "Take this, you puppets!" He jabbed the offending Nobody in the chest with his cane. It held up its arms in attempted defense, but was quickly vanquished.

A Berserker swung its jagged weapon at Webby, but Max brought the tip of his lance up just in time to halt the attack, leading the Berserker to turn to him.

Max spun his lance around, tapping the back of Skye's heel. Skye nodded and jumped into the air, and Max whacked him like a baseball, driving him clear through the Berserker's body.

With the room almost cleared, Mr. Fredricksen pulled open the cage. "Come on," he said. "I'm so sorry, Kevin…"

The massive bird stepped out of the cage and kept close to Carl.

"All right, let's go," Skye said.

Dug joined them, and they all wandered purposefully back into the blimp's halls, passing into Muntz's trophy room, packed full of odd skeletons and artifacts.

A crowd of Dusks materialized and faced off with the group, but were promptly destroyed—crushed underfoot by a simply colossal Heartless, six-legged and tortoise-like, its yellow eyes gazing down a stern, hooked beak.

"Oh, boy," Mr. Fredricksen said dryly.

"No kidding," Max said.

The Heartless opened its mouth and unleashed a jet of thick, green fire. Skye evaded, but his three companions weren't so lucky, and were left coughing and staggering in the wake of the breath weapon.

Skye stabbed at one of its front legs, and it growled and shook him off as nothing but an annoyance. Skye didn't relent, grasping at its knee. Ignoring him, it stopped struggling and turned its head to Skye's companions. Skye got to his feet on the top of its curved shell.

He lifted his blade and stabbed the Heartless' shell, only for it to bounce back. Shocked and off-balance, Skye slipped and fell. The creature shook vigorously, trying to throw him off. Skye slid down the shell and found himself at the base of its neck. On instinct, he swung the blade in a wide downward arc, successfully cutting a wound in the lime-green flesh.

"Perfect," he muttered. Lunging forward, he stabbed it in the top of its head, and it bellowed and swung its head violently, knocking him to the ground.

The Heartless glared down at Skye and stretched its neck out to bite him, but was repelled by a lance being tossed and embedded in its face.

Skye turned his head. Max had executed his timely rescue before he had even regained the strength to stand up.

"Thanks, bro!" Skye called out.

"Any time," Max replied.

"Aero!" Webby shouted.

A huge gust of wind magic turned the gigantic Heartless onto its back. Its smooth, featureless underbelly seemed to be inviting attack. Skye hopped up onto its belly, flanked by Max and Mr. Fredricksen. They all shoved their weapons deep into its body, and its body disappeared from under their feet, causing them to drop to the ground.

They had no time to catch their breath. A door to the trophy room burst open, and Muntz emerged with a sword and a rifle.

"I'm taking that bird!" he snarled.

Dug attacked Muntz, but was intercepted by Alpha, who dragged Dug through the door and slammed it behind them.

When Muntz lunged at Kevin, the blimp tilted sideways. Everything and everyone in the room skidded toward the open windows on the side.

Skye tumbled out into the open air. While plummeting, he conjured his glider and boarded it. Seeing Webby falling alongside him, he caught her in one hand and banked in the air. Webby nodded her thanks and hopped onto the glider's handlebars.

The blimp was righting itself; Mr. Fredricksen had prevented himself and the others from falling, and had noticed the ladders running along the dirigible's outside.

"Kevin, go," Carl urged. "Max, you too."

Kevin started up the ladder, using her beak and feet. Max followed directly behind her, and Mr. Fredricksen a single step after.

"Ooh, this is _not_ gonna end well," Max said with dread.


	10. Creeping Evil

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

So, here's today's vanity card. I've been criticized once or twice about my tendency to use ALL CAPS whenever characters have significantly raised voices. These critics then proceed to suggest I instead use **boldface**, which they say is much less annoying and more professional.

Are you kidding me? Boldface is the most annoying and least professional thing ever. All caps is frickin' classy by comparison. And all italics? Way too gentle to imply someone is screaming their brains out.

To support this argument: Pick up a novel, any novel. How often do novels use all-caps? Not often, but it does happen. When do they use boldface in the middle of the text? Never ever. Ever. Under any circumstances. Ever. No matter what. Ever.

**Creeping Evil**

As Kevin, Carl, and Max scaled the edge of the blimp, Skye steered his his glider to a position where he could quickly come to their aid. Webby, sitting on his handlebars, had her magic crystal prepared.

Mr. Fredricksen's cute little house had detached from the dirigible, and Russell, having freed himself from his bonds, was steering it out of the way of numerous oddly-shaped beings made of Gummi.

Wally B. shoved a slip of paper in front of Skye's nose, with "_Space Nobodies_" clearly printed on it.

"I got there, thank you," Skye snapped, waving the bee away. "Come on, Webby, we've gotta save Russell."

"Steer us closer," Webby said coldly.

Skye swooped below the swarming figures, blasting globes of energy at them, and finally mowing them down with his glider when he came close enough. Webby complimented his path of destruction with minor magic spells.

"Thank you!" Russell called. "Come on, don't let Mr. Fredricksen fall!"

Russell brought the house around to the top of the blimp as Kevin helped Max and Mr. Fredricksen up to the semi-stable surface atop the _Spirit of Adventure_. Skye landed and changed his glider back into the Keyblade.

A nearby trapdoor rattled, and Dug popped out.

"Dug!" Mr. Fredricksen said, relieved. "Are you okay?"

"What happened to Alpha?" Skye said anxiously.

"_He is no longer Alpha_," Dug said. "_By vanquishing him in single combat, I am Alpha now._"

Mr. Fredricksen raised an eyebrow. "Either there's more to that story than you're saying, or—"

He was interrupted by a gunshot. Muntz was marching toward them with deadly purpose in every step, reloading his gun as he glared directly at Kevin.

"Get to the house!" Skye commanded. "We'll hold him off!"

Russell, Dug, and Kevin quickly found refuge in the drifting house; Carl stayed behind, his cane firmly in hand. All together, he, Skye, Max, and Webby charged.

Muntz tossed his sword at them, and followed it up with a gunshot. They scattered, dodging, and Muntz maneuvered through their attacks to retrieve his sword.

Max performed an overhead swing of his lance, and Muntz slammed him with the butt of his rifle before springing out of the way. He cocked his gun and shot at Skye, who actually managed to deflect the bullet with the head of his Keyblade.

"Skye," Mr. Fredricksen grunted. "Swing me!"

Skye grabbed the head of the old man's cane and swung him in an arc at Muntz's face; Mr. Fredricksen kicked the older man in the face before landing neatly on his feet, his back only a little twisted.

"Mr. Fredricksen?" Skye inquired, concerned.

"I gotcha," Carl said. "Come on!"

Shoulder-to-shoulder, they advanced on Muntz, swinging their weapons methodically. Muntz attempted to defend himself, but was entangled in the cane and Keyblade, forcing him to spring backwards more than a little dazed.

Sobered by a blow from Carl's cane, Muntz slashed powerfully at Carl and Skye with his sword. Before Muntz could prepare his gun, Skye managed a full recovery and lunged into the villain's chest.

Skye and Mr. Fredricksen were now circling and looping around each other, ripping at Muntz with the sheer force of their velocity even as he attempted to scramble out of their way.

Muntz tossed his sword again, causing both Skye and Mr. Fredricksen to gasp in pain, but they continued their attack, jumping high into the air together before blasting a great gust of wind at Muntz, knocking him to the ground and causing him to slide along the blimp's surface.

Unfortunately, he had also been brought directly within reach of his fallen sword. He picked it up and charged at Skye. Mr. Fredricksen extended his cane to its full length to reach out and block the attack.

Muntz leapt to the side and in a completely surprise maneuver pulled out a huge whip, cracking it at Skye's ankles and throwing him off balance.

"Fire!" came a tiny, peeping voice. Webby had snuck up behind Muntz, and quickly surrounded her body with a wall of fiery orbs, lunging at Muntz to burn him and running off while he was still utterly flatfooted by her surprise attack.

Seconds later, he shot at her, grazing her side. "Oh!" Webby said softly in surprise, just before she collapsed.

"Webby!" Max roared.

"I got her," Skye said. "Tinker Bell! Take care of Webby!"

The pixie was summoned immediately, and fluttered over to Webby, working her magic to stabilize Webby's condition.

Muntz was making a run for the house where the others were sheltered, but Skye caught up to him and blocked his path. Muntz attempted to chop his sword at Skye, but with a casual mutter of "Thunder", Skye caused an electrical pulse to creep along the surface under their feet, knocking Muntz backward.

With his Keyblade, he nicked Muntz in the chin. Muntz responded in kind, drawing his sword across Skye's abdomen.

Skye's retaliation was absolutely ferocious—he bashed Muntz in the face with the hilt of his key, then slashing a quick one-two-three across the old man's chest, dropping him flat on his back.

Skye took a moment to breathe and calm himself… when the adrenaline surge had passed, Skye realized how uncomfortable he was, standing atop this unmanned craft thousands of feet from the ground.

"We, um…" Skye muttered. "We should get somewhere safer… someplace we can actually maneuver ourselves."

"Yeah," Max said seriously. "How about Mr. Fredricksen gets back to his house, and we fly around, make sure no more of those little Gummi Nobodies are around."

"Sounds good," Mr. Fredricksen said.

The trio conjured up their vehicles and prepared a loop around the general area. Mr. Fredricksen returned to his house, cautiously sidestepping Muntz as he did so.

About halfway around the circuit, Skye turned his head to check on Mr. Fredricksen's progress—and discovered, to his horror, that Muntz had been faking his unconsciousness. The gun-toting old man easily overtook Mr. Fredricksen and bashed his way into the little house.

"No!" Skye cried out, swinging his Keyblade Glider around, knowing he would arrive much too late.

Mr. Fredricksen rushed to catch up to his house, but as it began to slip off the edge of the blimp, his face brightened with inspiration. "Russell!" he called. "Hang onto Kevin! Don't let go of her!"

He pulled something small and rectangular out of his pocket. "Kevin—chocolate!" he cried, waving it.

With a loud squawk, the bird burst through the front window of the house, Russell and Dug holding onto her tight as she landed on the wing of the blimp and began devouring the candy bar.

Muntz attempted to follow her, but immediately became entangled in the strings of the sinking balloons. As he struggled, the strings snapped, and Muntz's expression was one of horror as he plummeted toward the ground, which was nothing but a brownish blur thousands of feet away.

Mr. Fredricksen's house, meanwhile, sank slowly into the clouds, vanishing from sight.

"Your house!" Max said. "Want us to go get it?"

Mr. Fredricksen dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. "No, it's fine. You know, it's just a house."

"_I am ready to not be up high_," Dug commented. Everyone broke out laughing.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

At the entrance to the labyrinth, three tiny, fuzzy baby birds awaited Kevin's return. Kevin and her companions emerged from the _Spirit of Adventure_—newly cleansed of marauding Nobodies—and were greeted enthusiastically by the peeping chicks.

One of them snuggled up against Skye's leg, and another allowed Russell to pick it up. "Aw, you're so soft," Russell said.

Kevin trumpeted, and her babies fell into step behind her, as they departed into the foggy labyrinth.

"So… is that it, do you think?" Skye said.

"Yeah, I'd say we got our happy ending done," Max said, nodding his head in satisfaction. "And we do have a bigger mission."

"Yup," Skye agreed. "So, will you guys be okay?"

"I think so," Mr. Fredricksen said. "Thanks. Come on, Russell. Let's go home."

Skye nodded and turned to go, but something caught his eye. Just inside the entrance to the labyrinth was something shiny and pure white. He scurried over to retrieve it, finding that it was an opaque white diamond.

"Whatcha got there?" Max asked.

"There's some kind of… spirit inside this diamond," Skye said quietly, examining the object. "The Keyblade is drawn to it… but in a friendly way." He tapped the gem with his Keyblade, producing no results. "Huh. I should hang onto this, maybe Master Sora will know what it does."

"All right," Max said cheerfully. "Let's move on."

The Keyblade Glider and the Gummi pods lifted off, and prepared to jettison off into the next world.

As they passed over Paradise Falls, they saw Mr. Fredricksen's house, perched perfectly beside it.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

In the Keyblade Graveyard, the Brotherhood watched Skye's exploits in the little round pool.

Randall smirked. "Pay up, boxy."

Grumbling, Chick passed a small, heavy bag to Randall. "I have no regrets!" he declared. "Smart munny's on the guy with the gun."

"Not against the Keyblade," Dominique Destine interjected. "It's been known to sunder entire worlds."

"It could rule them all if placed in the right hands," the Phantom Blot added. "Sadly, it never seems to be."

Dr. Facilier materialized out of a Dark Corridor at the head of the pool. "Hello again, everyone!" he said. "It's time. I'm about to introduce y'all to the people who brought this group together."

"Well, it's about time," Mother Gothel said. "I wasn't getting any younger here… that's what I do at home." She threw back her head for a bout of boisterous laughter. "Ha ha ha! Oh, sometimes I just crack me up."

Facilier chuckled. "Indeed. Anyway… meet our co-founders and co-leaders… the young maestro Xefrii and mademoiselle Ciexu."

The pair appeared on Facilier's either side, emerging from a pair of corridors. The boy immediately took to the air, flying circles around the entire group and leaving a trail of fire in his wake. He screeched to a halt just above the center of the scrying pool, dangling upside-down. Appearing to be in his late teens, he wore a snappy black suit coat, had light brown skin, blue eyes, and spiky black hair that seemed to be moving an awful lot considering there was no wind.

The girl was less noticeable. Pale-skinned and wearing a dress of white lace, she had curly steel-gray hair done up in fluffy pigtails, which reached up high to increase her height before cascading down her shoulders. Her most striking feature was her eyes: instead of pupils or irises, they consisted of nothing but solid pink orbs. She stood with her hands behind her back, appearing very reserved.

"Hi, everybody!" the boy said. "As the good doctor told you, I'm Xefrii… the lovely girl off to the side is Ciexu."

Destine sneered. "We've been brought together to work for these… these hatchlings?"

Xefrii's hair flattened down onto his head as he bobbed in the air to Destine's face.

"Well, yes, Miss Destine," he said coldly. "Do forgive us for our presumption. You see… we're just children, children who want to make our dreams come true! We asked you to join us because, well, we'll do _anything_ to accomplish our goals. And we know that you will too. Do you understand what I'm saying, Dominique?"

Taken aback, Miss Destine smiled tightly. "…Yes. I like what I'm hearing."

"I thought you might," Xefrii said. His hair immediately began flowing loose again as he hovered, still upside-down, around the circle. "As you may have been told, we're a team here. You need anything, let one of your brothers or sisters know. A Brotherhood member asks you a favor, you fulfill it, if you can. Our preferred weapon, the darkness, gives us power… but it can do some nasty stuff to our hearts. Try to temper that by keeping us all friends here. Mkay?"

"Organization XIII," Randall said suddenly.

"Hm?" Xefrii said absently.

"Xefrii and Ciexu—fake names," Randall said. "We're working for Organization XIII. Hey Facilier, couldn't you have just _told_ us we're working for—"

Randall stopped speaking immediately, as he had been frozen in a block of ice. A hush fell over the Brotherhood, and all eyes turned to Ciexu, who was still motionless but staring at Randall with evil intensity.

The ice block shattered quickly, but Randall continued shivering uncomfortably.

"How dare you make such a comparison," Ciexu growled.

"What she means," Xefrii said hastily, "is that Organization XIII, as if you didn't know, well, they all… died. Ciexu analyzed their history for herself, see, it's because they didn't trust each other. Didn't care about each other. Had a habit of stabbing each other in the back. Which goes against everything we, the Brotherhood, stand for." He suddenly spun to a right-side-up position, and a pair of white-and-red fireballs appeared in his hands. As he juggled them, he eyed Randall carefully. "But if you're not gonna be a team player, o learned Mr. Boggs, you're free to go."

Randall's squinty gaze darted between the fireballs and Ciexu's blank eyes. "Wouldn't dream of it," he finally said.

"If I may," the Phantom Blot offered cautiously, "how do you explain your names, then?"

Xefrii set himself into a reclined position and came to rest on Chick's hood. "We wanted to shed our identities," he said. "For, ah, personal reasons. The Organization's naming convention has fallen out of vogue, so we thought we'd bring it back. We're not Nobodies, if that's your question." He winked at the Blot. "What are you guys watching, anyway?"

"Get off my hood," Chick grumbled.

"Make me, fuzz-lip."

Chick barked a laugh. "I like your style. We were watching some twerp with a Keyblade beat up an old man."

Everyone's attention turned back to the scrying pool, which now displayed Skye, Max, and Webby, stepping out of their crafts to set foot on a barren arctic tundra.

Ciexu inhaled sharply. "It's him!"

"What's that, now?" Xefrii asked, standing up.

"That's _him!_" Ciexu reiterated. "Him… the Last."

Xefrii scratched his chin as he examined the image in the pool. "The blue-haired kid is the Last? I see how that's possible. But are you sure?"

Ciexu stared at him blankly.

"Right," he muttered. "Okay! Check your schedules, folks. If you're all game, the Brotherhood's top priority is now… this kid."

No one refused. It was plain that despite the words to the contrary, these leaders were not to be denied, and not to be messed with.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sora landed his Gummi on the small island he had spent so many days on in his youth. On the horizon, he saw the main island, his hometown. As he walked down the gangplank, he was immediately waylaid by a very attractive woman with flipped hair, a yellow dress, and an oversized nunchaku.

"Welcome home, Master Sora," she said formally. "Destiny Islands honor guard captain Selphie Tilmitt reporting, sir!"

Sora looked her over with amusement. "I've asked you not to do that."

"I know," she said, giggling. "I just get super-excited. So, what's up?"

Sora began walking down the beach, Selphie a step behind him. "I've been asked by forces I must obey to check up on Kairi. So, can I go see her, or are we gonna hang around here observing protocols we don't have?"

"Of course," Selphie said. "Let's get-r-done! Have you seen Riku?"

"Yeah, just a while ago," Sora replied. "He's helping the King out with… something. I don't know, exactly. But he's in good health."

Selphie nodded sadly. "I haven't seen him since… the last time I saw him, I guess. Does he mention me often?"

"Of course he does," Sora said, tapping her on the shoulder. "I know he thinks about you all the time. You are his girl, after all, he—HEY!" He whirled around, pointing his Keyblade viciously at a huge man who was preparing to throw a large blue-and-white sphere at him. "What kind of Blitzball is that, exactly?"

Wakka examined the ball. "Ah, you know…" he said. "The adult version, ya?"

"The kind designed to break people's heads?" Sora said. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Not on my island, you don't."

"Oh, come _on_, Keyblade Master," Wakka taunted. "Like I could actually harm you, ya."

Sora rolled his eyes and spotted another honor guard member, leaning against a dock, his large blue sword resting across his shoulders.

"Tidus, how's it going?" Sora said jovially.

"Awesome," Tidus said. "And only getting better."

"Really?" Sora asked, concerned. "'Cause you look _terrible_."

"Yeah," Tidus replied dryly. "So you've told me."

"Does the city not pay you enough?" Sora continued with genuine worry. "Still can't afford a pair of pants with two legs, huh?"

"Very funny," Tidus said, self-consciously grabbing the rim of his shorter pant leg. "It's fashion! Pure fashion and I'll not have your slander, sir! Have at you!"

He jabbed his sword playfully at Sora, who gently tapped it away. "Catch you later," he said.

"Yep, I'd better be heading home," Tidus said, looking at the sun. "It's my night off and this lemon party ain't gonna throw itself. Later!" He departed, leaving his friends staring after him, baffled.

"I _think_ he's kidding, ya?" Wakka said uneasily.

"Moving along then," Sora muttered uncomfortably, continuing his trek down the beach. "Selphie, any disturbances?"

"None at all," she replied.

"Good, good… hey, Kairi!"

He had spotted her, in her pale pink dress-suit and dark red ponytail, sitting in the crook of the paopu tree gazing at the ocean. She turned around, dropped elegantly to the sand, and rushed over to give Sora a crushing hug.

"You're back early!" she said happily, before frowning, something having just occurred to her. "Did things not go well with your new student?"

"No, no, it went great," Sora said. "I look at him, and just like that, I see myself in his eyes… But I kinda had to send him off on a mission. There are… things… cruising around the worlds causing trouble, we think. Big guys in shrouds with clawed fingers. Have you heard anything about that?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, but I don't think I would have anyway—no threat can make its way to the Islands. Our defense is exemplary." She nodded at Selphie, who beamed.

"Okay, good," Sora muttered. "Order of business number two, then, I need to check on your pupil: I need to see Oceana. Where is she?"

"I don't know for sure," Kairi admitted. "Either practicing her swordplay or working on her 'I Love Lando' scrapbook, if I had to guess. It's about fifty-fifty."

"Lando scrapbook?" Sora repeated. "I'm gonna have to make a note of that…"

"Mm-hmm, it's very sweet," Kairi said. "If he only knew about it… But tell me, is something wrong? Why do you need to see her? Is she in danger?"

"No, no big deal," Sora said hastily. "I just need to report back to King Mickey on her status. I'll find her."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Oceana was in a cave, at the edge of a small underground pond fed by a trickle of water. Sora found her, saw that she was apparently doing nothing but staring deep into the black waters of the pond.

"Oceana," he said quietly to announce his presence.

"Hello, Master Sora," she said without looking up.

He stepped up to her, taking in her appearance, searching for some detail that would warrant a report. She had long black hair, decorated with a red flower held in place by a pin shaped like the Mark of Mastery. Her midriff-baring flowery top, shorts, and sandals were all very pale in color.

Oceana vanished suddenly, and Sora drew his blade as he tensely looked around.

The student was directly behind him, mischief in her big brown eyes. "Sorry," she said. "Need my personal space. So, what can I do for you, Master?"

Having no clues as to King Mickey's directive, Sora simply said, "Present your Keyblade to me."

She conjured it up. It was blue and white, shaped like an elegantly cresting wave, but its teeth were long and sharp. It had six gems spaced along the blade, a full rainbow of color. This was the Marine Gem, a Keyblade of legend whose story had been long-since forgotten. Just as the unassuming Kingdom Key existed in many forms, many other Keyblades went from one wielder to another as generations passed—indeed, few Keyblades came into being spontaneously; remembered or not, every form of the weapon had a history behind it.

Sora took the Marine Gem from Oceana and examined it thoroughly, noting its surface, switching erratically between smooth and rough, just like the real sea.

A second later, the most important thing to note about the blade was that Oceana was standing on it.

Sora laughed. "You're gifted," he said.

Oceana's blade vanished, and the girl dropped neatly to the ground.

"Is anything worrying you, Oceana?" Sora asked.

"Not at all," she replied, her voice high and musical. "I'm living a very full life."

"Good, good," Sora said. He paused, having no real idea where to go from here. This would have to suffice. "Well, I'll be seeing you later." He turned to go.

"Goodbye, Master Sora!" Oceana said. "Best of fortunes!"

He smiled. "You too," he said sincerely.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

So! Took a while to update here. Had stuff to do. Anyway, so, this is _Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation_, right? Totally. I've come to realize, this doesn't just refer to the fact that we have successors of Sora, Donald, and Goofy cruising around the worlds. Webby and Max are a new generation in a different way.

As we know, most of the classic Disney characters made their debut in the 20s and 30s (the frequent _Kingdom Hearts_ journal entry claim that Goofy debuted in the 50s is inaccurate), and have been a constant presence in the world's culture ever since. In most of the world, cherished; in America, merely tolerated. At least that's the impression I've gotten. But either way, they've stood the test of generations.

Max and Webby, meanwhile, are the fond childhood memories of the 80s and 90s. Webby debuted on _DuckTales_ in 1987. And Max, though his prototype Goofy Jr. had appeared as far back as 1951, debuted as we know him on _Goof Troop_ in 1992—the very year that I was born. If that doesn't just warm the cockles of the heart!

Meanwhile, the Phantom Blot is, in a way, rather new himself. While he made his debut in 1939, it was in print. And again, Disney comics are celebrated throughout the world but pretty much unknown within their country of origin, so even a rabid Disney fan would be hard-pressed to identify him. The Blot's only screen appearances have been on _DuckTales_ and _House of Mouse_, and if any young people have heard about him nowadays it'll be because of his spiritual successor, _Epic Mickey_'s "Shadow Blot". The Shadow Blot, as I understand it, is a feral, snarling beast, which doesn't quite fit in with the Blot I'm trying to create here: a refined and intellectual supervillain archetype. Also, I'm predominantly going off of his _House of Mouse_ incarnation—the _DuckTales_ version had evil red eyes (way too obvious) and a mouth (that's just wrong). Despite this, I like Frank Welker's performance better than John O'Hurley's… So, keep that in mind. I'm very picky about my Blots.

Anyway, time for me to prepare material for the second-most-obscure world to be featured in this story. See you around!


	11. Quite Striking

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

So, here's something interesting. I've established that this is set roughly ten years after the time period of "Blank Points". But, with a few of the Disney-related plots I've set up, I realize that doesn't quite work out. Some of them require at least twelve years to have gone by, others only eight.

My conclusion? That's AWESOME. All the worlds work so differently from one another—it's not too much of a stretch to think time flows differently between them as well. At least it explains Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

**Quite Striking**

Max and Webby parked their Gummi crafts atop an iceberg, and joined Skye as he looked out into the expanses of the ice-covered ocean all around him.

"Kind of cold, ain't it?" Max commented.

Webby began flipping through her spellbook. "Uncle Donald has notes about this place," she said. "He says that in this world, most hearts come from the ocean."

"Really?" Skye repeated, looking straight down, his toes hanging off the berg's edge. "So how do we get down there?"

"I know the spell," Webby said. "It should work on all three of us." Packing away the book and her doll, she produced her small pink crystal and aimed it at Skye.

Skye didn't even realize she had done anything until he fell to the ground, twitching and gasping. Instinctively, he slid himself into the ocean, and discovered that he was immensely more comfortable than he had been on the iceberg.

He examined his body. His chest was bare, and his gloves were gone, but beneath the waist he had a long, pale-blue shark's tail. He wiggled the tail from side to side and was propelled forward quite successfully.

Webby dropped into the water after him, having taken on the appearance of a jellyfish. Her ducklike head was contained within the jellyfish's dome, while beneath the dome was a long and flowing string of tentacles.

Max was the last one in. He now had a bloated, black-furred body with four flippers, and his buckteeth had transformed into long, curving tusks. He waved his flippers around and looked at them in surprise. "Huh," he said dully. "What am I, a sea lion?"

"No, you're a walrus," Webby chirped.

"Hmm… well, it'll do," Max said brightly.

Skye conjured his Keyblade and tried out a basic attack routine. "All right, I think we can figure this one out, guys," he said. He looked around, seeing nothing but open sea and icebergs around him. "The place seems deserted, though…"

A legion of fishlike Heartless came into being, forming a ring around the three of them.

"Ah, that's better," Skye said.

He tried to paddle toward the enemies with his hands, but this got him nowhere. They began to swarm around him, and he swung his Keyblade in a basic combo. He didn't anticipate that this movement would send him spinning head over tail and upside down, flailing him around like a broken rudder.

When he tried moving his tail side-to-side again he met with more success. Swinging in wide arcs, he obliterated numerous fish Heartless at once. After only two swings, he realized that there were none around him anymore, and laughed triumphantly.

To his surprise, one came at him from below, and began gnawing on the flesh on his belly. Crying out in pain, he tried to hit it, but his blade was too long.

Max came to his rescue, gripping his lance in his rear flippers and slashing through the monster's body. "We're underwater, man," he told Skye. "You gotta think in three dimensions!"

"I noticed," Skye replied. "Well, you're the soldier here—why don't you take the lead."

Max nodded. "Sure, just do what I do!"

Max spun around, seemingly without form or purpose, but he blocked every attack from the back, above, and below, seemingly aware of every Heartless in every direction. Skye just tried to keep up with him, picking off the Heartless that Max had only injured and not destroyed.

Several of the Heartless began to advance on Webby. "Webby, does your magic still work under here?" he called to her.

Webby held her crystal in one of her jellyfish tentacles, and lifted it up high. "Thunder!" she squeaked.

Lightning emerged from the crystal in an enormous orb which extended in all directions, not only obliterating every Heartless remaining but also leaving Skye and Max uncomfortably singed.

"Yep," Webby said. "Works pretty good, actually!"

Max passed Skye a potion, and he downed it, healing the worst of his injuries. "Well, I guess we'll have to find some people," he said. "What kind of people live underwater anyway?"

"Mermaids, I think," Webby said. "Like you."

"Oh, hey, there goes one now!" Max said, pointing with a flipper.

They all turned, and spotted a black-haired, orange-tailed mermaid flipping and twirling through the water.

"Wow, she sure looks like she's having fun," Skye said. "Well, let's see what we can learn."

They swam toward the mermaid, all three of them now comfortable in their new seagoing forms. Coming closer, they saw the mermaid was very young, perhaps around Skye's age, and rather than the seashell common to mermaids she wore a laced tank top.

"Um, hey there!" Skye said, waving to her.

The mermaid stopped her gleeful dance, and paused to float directly in front of Skye.

"We were just…" Skye began, stopping abruptly when he got a good look at her face. Her big blue eyes, her lips and sweet, eager smile…

"Hi, I…" the mermaid began to speak as well, but faded off, seeming just as entranced.

The two of them stared at each other in silence for several seconds. Max looked from one to the other uneasily. "Uh-oh…" he muttered.

Finally, Skye managed to clear his throat. "Um, hi. I'm Skye. What's your name?"

"I'm Mel… Mel…" she muttered, attempting to hold up a hand in greeting.

"Sorry, Mel-Mel, was it?" Max cut in.

The mermaid coughed, and shook her head. "Um, no, sorry… I'm Melody!" She tapped the locket she wore, half-covered in algae and engraved with her name.

"Hi, Melody," Skye said softly. "Oh, and this is Max… and Webby…"

Melody smiled at them. "Hello!" she said, before looking back at Skye. "Sorry, I really shouldn't be hanging out here. I'm on a pretty urgent adventure and I don't have much time…"

She swam off. Skye followed, coming up beside her. "An adventure? We're kind of on one of those too. Maybe we can help you."

"Help me?" Melody said absently. She half-glanced at Skye, and noticed his Keyblade. Skye had discovered that underwater, the enormous weapon was light enough for him to hold in one hand. "Is that a Keyblade?" Melody asked.

"Yeah, you've seen one before?" Skye said, showing it to her.

"No, but I've heard about them," Melody said. "A lot of stories, from my… my mother…" She trailed off sadly.

"Your mother who you don't get along with?" Max ventured.

"It's not like that," Melody said quietly. "It's just… my mother never liked the sea…"

Skye, Max, and Webby glanced at each other, confused.

"But you can help me with my quest, then, right?" Melody said, her eyes wide as she addressed Skye directly. "With your Keyblade?"

"Um, yes! Yes!" Skye said, surprised at her sudden proximity. "Me and the Keyblade, we only live to serve."

"Do any of you know the way to Atlantica?" Melody asked.

Webby produced her book again and flipped through it. "Yes!" she said. "It's this way, a straight shot south."

"Perfect!" Melody said. "Let's go!"

They started off.

"So, what's your quest?" Skye asked.

"Well, I need to get back my friend's trident," Melody replied. "It was stolen by Atlantica's evil king."

Webby glanced down at her book. "Um… are you sure?" she said.

"Yes," Melody said. "And she needs it back soon. She only had just enough magic left to put this spell on me. If she can't get her trident soon, then I'll…" She sighed.

"You'll what?" Skye whispered, swimming closer to her.

"I'll turn back into a human," Melody said, embarrassed. She looked at them as if she was expecting gasps of horror, but the others simply nodded, understanding perfectly.

"A human, huh?" Skye said.

"Yeah… a human," Melody sighed, looking away.

"Well, in that case," Skye said cheerfully, "I guess it's safe to tell you, I'm not exactly a real mer-guy either." She looked at him curiously. "I can see why you'd want to stay this way, it's really great."

"Yeah," Melody agreed. "It's so cool… I can't wait to be a mermaid forever."

The four of them went on, Melody looking determined, but no longer particularly happy.

"Hey, chin up," Skye said gently. "We'll get this trident for your friend and it'll all work out."

Melody smiled at Skye and reached out to him. The two held hands as they continued their steady swim south.

Max and Webby hung back a bit. "They've been mutually stricken stupid," Max observed. "I've honestly never seen that before… keep your magic crystal ready, could you, Webby? I can't shake a bad feeling about this one."

Webby nodded, still scanning the pages of Donald's notes. "I know what you mean," she said. "I've got a really nasty hunch about all this…"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

So, yeah, this world takes us through the story of _The Little Mermaid II_. Or is it _2_? They keep changing it.

I hear some of you out there, being a bit skeptical. Granted, any reference to _The Little Mermaid_ will probably make any _Kingdom Hearts_ player wince a little bit. And Disney was known a while back for pumping out sequels to everything, an operation which was halted when the magnificent John Lasseter became head of the animation department.

But I generally don't view that collection of sequels as a bad thing. In my opinion, _The Lion King II_ is EXACTLY as good as the first one was, and no viewing of _Aladdin_ is complete without a follow-up of _The Return of Jafar_ and _The King of Thieves_. Some of them miss the mark… _Mulan II_, for example, had a lot of promise, but ended up as a big letdown for reasons I won't really go into here and now. If we're doing this pass/fail, then _The Little Mermaid II_ is a pass, I enjoy it. In summary, I find Disney's sequel collection to be variable in quality, running a high-to-low gauntlet ranging from _Cinderella II_ (epic fail) to _Cinderella III_ (WINNING).

And of course, there's the Skye/Melody tease. Been planning that from the beginning. How cute is that?


	12. Always a Way

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Whoo! It's been a while. Summer courses and whatnot. Let's see how I handle my month off… maybe this story will actually get somewhere…

**Always a Way**

The group cruised through the ocean for some time; finally coming upon Atlantica, an immense golden palace rising out of the sea-green gloom.

A palace which was veritably swarming with mermen in golden helmets and breastplates—an entire army's worth.

"Oh, swell," Max muttered. "The place is on high alert." He glared at Melody. "You have something to do with this?"

"No, no," Skye interrupted. "It's not on alert at all, look—they're all leaving." He pointed them out; each soldier seemed to be going in a different direction, but all of them were departing the palace. "No alert whatsoever, we can sneak in easily," Skye said smugly.

Melody seemed to be distracted, taking in the sight of the palace. "Atlantica… it's real."

"Of course it is," Skye said, clutching her hand tightly. "Let's do this."

They swam into the city, making their way around the coral-carved spires and arches. Getting into the palace was easy as swimming through the front door. In the throne room, they hid under a table to get their bearings.

The enormous throne of gold was raised high above the floor, and next to it sat the trident, standing upright in a perfectly-fitted holder.

"That's it," Melody said, fascinated.

"Well, go and grab it so we can get out of here," Max said impatiently. "Or not, either way."

Melody nodded and swam up to the trident. Skye turned on Max angrily. "What's _your_ problem?" he demanded.

"Sorry," Max said softly. "I know you're infatuated and everything, but her story doesn't add up. Atlantica? My dad's been here. He told me all about it when I was a kid. I don't think this is an evil place!" He looked around edgily. "And here we are stealing from it! It makes me nervous. Melody could be lying to us, you know."

"Melody is not a servant of darkness," Skye said firmly.

"I didn't say she was," Max said gently. "But how do we know she's on the up and up? With all due respect, Skye, you're not a master. You can't know for sure what's in her heart. You might miss things. We might have something really messy on our hands."

Melody returned, gripping the trident comfortably in both hands. "I've got it. Let's go, you guys!"

The four of them started out a side window. Melody's seashell locket dropped to the floor. "My necklace!" she said, diving to retrieve it.

Before she could get her fingers wrapped around it, a deep voice could be heard raging, coming closer by the second.

"We haven't time for this! I want every available merman searching! Find her! FIND HER!"

Skye drew his Keyblade and got between Melody and the throne room entrance. "Go, go, we'll cover your back," he said.

"Okay," Melody said anxiously. "Hurry! I'll wait for you."

As soon as Melody darted away, the owner of the angry voice entered: an enormous merman with a long white beard and a crown atop his head. Accompanying him were a very mature red-haired mermaid and a small red crab.

"Daddy, look!" the mermaid said, pointing to Skye and his companions, who had also nervously produced their weapons.

"A Keyblade!" the king said. He charged straight at Skye—and gave him a crushing hug. "Our prayers have been answered! Surely the tides themselves must have sent you!"

"Wha…?" Skye choked out.

"Forgive me," the king said, backing away hastily. "I'm King Triton. Please, young Keybearer, I beg you, you must help me seek out my granddaughter, Princess Melody?"

"Your… your _granddaughter_?" Max enunciated, eyeing Skye smugly.

"Yes."

"Had a hunch," Max said, swimming over to the redheaded mermaid. "Ariel, right?"

"Yes," she said, surprised. "Have we met?"

"No, but there's a picture of you in the Hall of the Keyblade's Allies over on Crystal Spheres," Max replied.

"Crystal Spheres," Ariel repeated softly. "So you all know Sora?"

Skye inhaled sharply. "He's my teacher."

"You look good!" Max said to Ariel. "Especially considering those pictures were done so many years ago… you look exactly the same. But didn't you become human? To get married, right?"

"Yes," Ariel said. "But my daddy changed me back into a mermaid so I could help look for Melody."

Skye's face fell. "You're… you're her mother?"

Ariel nodded, then looked past Skye to the throne. "Daddy, the trident!"

The small crab swam up to the empty stand. "Impossible," he muttered. "Only someone of the royal line can remove the trident from the stand…"

Ariel plucked Melody's shell necklace off the floor, right from underneath Skye. "Melody…" she whispered, running a hand across it.

"Melody…" the crab repeated, a look of dawning horror crossing his face. "Who I was supposed to be watching! She runs away from home _and_ steals the trident…" He scowled at Ariel. "Certainly takes after you, doesn't she?" He fell onto his back. "But I failed! I told you I was too old to keep track of an adventurous preteen!"

"It's okay, Sebastian," Ariel said absently. "How could Melody have gotten in here?"

"We came here with her," Max said promptly.

"Max!" Skye gaped.

"What?" Max sneered. "This is Melody's family we're talking to! They're not lying to us!"

"Neither was Melody," Skye declared. "Melody was honest with us—every word she said."

"Guys, stop it!" Webby chirped, coming between them. "Melody would never have done this if she's known the king was her grandpa. Obviously, someone lied to _her_—her 'friend', the one who told her to steal the trident."

"Morgana," King Triton said darkly.

Ariel approached Skye slowly. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Skye, ma'am," he replied nervously.

"Skye—that's beautiful," Ariel said. "Where is Melody now?"

"Well, um, your… Highness? Majesty? Are you a queen, or…?"

"Just Ariel is fine."

"Okay… Ariel," Skye said. "She's waiting for us, out there somewhere. Do you want to come with us?"

"Wait," Max said. "I don't think you should, not now." He put a flipper on Ariel's shoulder. "Melody might still be mad at you."

Ariel sighed. "Yes… she's probably feeling very betrayed right now."

"So, what do you suggest?" the king demanded.

"The three of us will go with her," Max said. "Just like we were going to anyway. We escort her back to this Morgana person, and you follow behind us without her seeing. We can all figure it out from there."

"Okay," Ariel said, clenching a fist in preparation. "Skye, promise me you'll look after her?"

"Yeah, I—I will," Skye choked out.

An assortment of seagoing Heartless popped up in a ring around Skye, Max, Webby, and Ariel, who all tensed up.

"Ooh, I haven't had to do this in a while," Ariel muttered. "Let me see… _Thunder!_"

Her attempt at casting a spell fizzled.

"Oops," she said. "Guess I'm out of practice…"

"We'll take care of it," Skye said. "We brought Melody here, so we owe you."

He attacked alone, corkscrewing through the circle of Heartless, obliterating them one by one. Having eliminated more than half of them, he cast an Aero spell, smothering those that remained.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Don't tell her what we found out," Max said as the trio returned to the open sea. "If she realized we've spoken to her mom, she won't trust us."

"I know, I know," Skye grumbled.

They caught up to Melody at the surface, her head above the water as she leaned against a rock.

"All this time," Melody muttered. "I never realized Atlantica was so close to my home."

They all looked to the shore. Just there was a great marble castle, separated from the sea by an immense wall.

"That's your home?" Skye whispered.

"It used to be."

"What's with the wall?" Skye asked.

"To keep me… _in_," Melody growled. "Come on, let's go." She turned around and dove, and the others had to rush to catch up to her. They swam in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm glad you guys got out okay," Melody finally said.

"Yeah, us too," Skye said.

"Did you get my necklace?"

"No, sorry," Skye said, realizing that Ariel still had it. "So… we're going back to your friend?"

"Right," Melody said. "Then I can be a mermaid forever…" She took the lead again, kicking her tail furiously.

"I hope it doesn't turn out that way," Skye muttered to himself, looking from her to the city.

Max gave him a reassuring tap with his flipper. "It's all right," he said. He indicated Ariel, stealthily following a safe distance behind them. "It'll work out, you'll see."


	13. On the Surface

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Been venting some frustrations toward KHwiki. I added some info about English voice actors, and they immediately reverted it all, told me voice actor claims have to be cited. It's like, since when? They've never been cited before. So I'm a bit miffed. You want information on the series' English voice actors, go to IMDB. The _Kingdom Hearts 3D_ page—yes, for a while it was a great deal of conjecture, but no sooner had the game come out when BAM, they made it perfect. Their listings of previous games are pretty much perfect as well.

I'll grant you, there are very few places where KHwiki and IMDB differ in their voice actor information—three or four characters in the entire series, at most—but on each of those occasions, my ears tell me that IMDB has it right. And since KHwiki resists all my attempts to so much as discuss it, I'm putting my trust in IMDB. People who monitor wikis are highly unreasonable in general…

**On the Surface**

They returned to the north, back among the icebergs looming above and below. Melody kept glancing toward the trident in her hands, and Skye found himself doing the same to his Keyblade, continuously reminding himself to have faith in his weapon.

From a cave on the side of the glaciers, a diminutive, striped shark-like creature burst out. "Have you got it?" it demanded in a deep, gravelly voice. "HA! You got it! Sweetheart, you're my new hero."

"Undertow," Melody said, "these are my new friends—"

"Yeah, yeah," the fish said, glancing dismissively at Skye, Max, and Webby. "Come on, you wanna be a real mermaid or not?"

Melody followed Undertow into the cave without hesitation—Skye's party followed, hoping this would be resolved quickly.

In the back of the cave was a white shell of a throne, and upon it sat an emaciated, green-skinned woman with long white hair and black tentacles in the place of legs.

"Darling, you found it!" the woman said in a deep, husky voice. "I was so worried about you… yet here you are. Clever girl…"

Undertow bobbed behind Morgana's shoulder. "Come on," he urged. "Give it to her, give it to her…"

"Melody, don't!" came Ariel's voice from the entrance.

"That's our cue to step aside," Max whispered.

"Oh, boy," Skye said worriedly, but he retreated back a few swishes of the tail anyway.

"Mom?" Melody said in surprise. Ariel came up level with her daughter, and the two of them looked each other over, stunned.

"You're a mermaid?" they said in unison.

"All this time," Melody said, comprehension crossing her face and pain slipping through every word. "And you never told me?"

"Melody …" Ariel pleaded.

"You knew how much I loved the sea," Melody went on unimpeded. "Why would you try to keep it away from me?"

"Melody, please, if there was one thing in my life I could do over—" Ariel said, a desperate sob creeping into her voice.

Melody defiantly turned around and thrust the trident into Morgana's hands.

"Melody, wait!" Skye cried out.

Morgana cackled maniacally and raised the trident over her head. Green lightning surged from the tip, eerily illuminating the ice cave.

"All the power of the seven seas!" Morgana laughed. "Mine to command!" She unexpectedly shot a bolt at Skye, and he sank, completely aware but unable to move a muscle, the few inches to the bottom.

Morgana snagged Ariel with her tentacles, muffling her shrieks and keeping her tail and arms bound.

"You see, dear," Morgana said to Melody. "Your mommy was only trying to protect you… from _moi_."

"A trick," Melody gasped.

"Tell me, my dear," Morgana hissed. "Is being a mermaid all you ever dreamed?"

Max prodded Skye's neck with the butt end of his lance. "Come on, man, get up, this is _bad_…"

Morgana pushed Melody into a small side chamber, and used the trident to erect a wall of ice.

"And by the way," she added, just before closing the wall on Melody completely, "Your time as a mermaid is just about expired."

Skye took a deep breath and whipped his tail around, drawing his Keyblade.

"Please," Morgana sneered, looking him up and down. "While I'd love to take a shot at a bearer of the weapon that took my sister from me, I've got bigger fish to fry."

"Yes, bigger fish!" Undertow said eagerly. "Now there's an idea."

"Indeed," Morgana said sweetly. "Let's get you back to your proper form."

She aimed the trident at Undertow, and in a blinding flash of green light, he changed. He was no longer tiny, his pointy teeth no longer comical. He was now a genuine shark, sixty feet long and very hungry-looking.

"OH YEAH!" he roared, stretching himself. "LOOK OUT!"

"Keep them from interfering," Morgana ordered, swimming off with Ariel in her clutches. "And make sure the Keyblade boy suffers for Ursula."

"With pleasure," Undertow growled.

He lunged forward, his jaws opening wide enough to take in Skye, Max, and Webby all at once. Skye sliced in an uppercut motion, parrying the teeth away. It seemed to be effective for a fraction of a second, until Skye realized his back was to the wall and Undertow was coming back again.

"By the stars," he cursed. "Um, Fire! Fire, fire, fire!"

"AARGH!" Undertow bellowed, as four fireballs hit him cleanly in the face, backing him up.

"Help me out, guys!" Skye pleaded, edging along the wall.

"We've got him," Max said, jabbing his lance into Undertow's hide, to seemingly little effect.

"Thunder!" Webby cried, causing Undertow's back to sizzle.

Skye darted out into an open area, and took careful aim at the shark, readying a long-range fireball.

Undertow whirled around, shrugging off Max and Webby's attempts to impede him, and charged straight at Skye.

"No, no, keep back!" Skye hissed, but Undertow mowed him down. Skye struck at his belly, but the Keyblade only skidded along the edges of his rough skin.

As Undertow turned about again to meet a charge from Max and Webby, Skye took note of the burn marks around his mouth and below his dorsal fin. Weapons hadn't harmed him in the slightest, but…

"Max, Webby, he's more vulnerable to magic!" he called as the monstrous fish rushed by above his head.

"That's really good to know!" Max yelled back. "If I knew any magic, it'd be even more s—AAH!" Undertow's nose collided with Max, who held on for dear life.

"I've got you, Max!" Webby said. "Blizzard!" Sure enough, the flying ice crystals put genuine dents in the shark's side.

"Come back here and get some, Undertow!" Skye yelled. "Fire!" He rushed at Undertow right on the heels of the spell. "And Thunder!" It crackled. "And another Fire! And some of this!"

Skye attempted to bash his Keyblade against the back of Undertow's head, but the shark dodged the blow miraculously and lunged upward, snapping his jaws again. "Keep it coming!" Skye taunted.

Undertow bit into him.

"Oh!" Skye gasped, in too much pain to even yell. "That's… that's no good…"

As he started to sink, Undertow licked his chops and came down after him.

Skye felt an urge from his Keyblade. "Um… Cure?" he whispered pathetically.

With a flash of green, he was suddenly perfectly revitalized. He had no time to marvel about it before dodging out of the way, causing Undertow to collide with the ice cave's floor.

"_Now_ we're getting somewhere!" Skye said, delighted. "Hey, fish-breath! Come over here so I can make soup out of you!"

Undertow chuckled and advanced, unfettered by the severe shaking-up the collision had caused him.

"That's right, it's soup for the whole Keyblade order!" Skye shot a single fireball before dodging, and Undertow crashed. Max lunged, and Webby went for a unique and innovative sort of Aero move, spinning the whirlwind and her body downward into the shark's skin.

Two nicks with the lance and two Blizzard spells later, Undertow shrugged off Max and Webby again and came after Skye once more. This time the young Keyblade wielder floated near the cave's domed ceiling. Skye narrowly missed being crushed between the shark and the wall this time, but overall the results were favorable.

"You gonna fall for that a third time?" Skye asked. "Here—Fire!"

Undertow snapped at him, but Skye dodged. Webby came up from beneath with Thunder, and Max continued battering away with his heavy polearm. Either out of anger or blind devotion to his orders, the shark still had eyes only for Skye, and pursued him relentlessly, snapping ineffectively as the boy fled before him, trying to outmaneuver the opponent.

"Come on, sharky, help me out a bit," Skye muttered, turning around abruptly to jam his blade into Undertow's nose. Webby caught up, throwing out a Blizzard, then a Fire immediately after.

"You're nearly out for the count," Max observed. "Here, try this on for size: Stab!" Putting his entire bulky pinniped body into the attack, he buried his lance in Undertow's flesh. "Stabra!" he continued, hitting harder. "And, Stabga!" The effect was fantastic, and Undertow was barely conscious when he angrily turned against Max.

"Don't you know who you're dealing with?" Max said. "I AM THE WALRUS!"

And with a mighty thrust, Undertow sank to the bottom of the cave.

"Goo-goo-g'joob!" Max declared.

Skye smirked. "How long, exactly, have you been waiting to say all of that?"

"All day, man. All day long!" Max seemed proud of himself for a moment, then he gasped. "Hey—Melody!"

"Oh, damn!" Skye rushed over to the wall where Melody had been imprisoned. A blast of light energy shattered the ice, revealing her—human now, barefoot and in frilly pantaloons, holding her breath and looking horrified.

"We've got you, Melody," Skye said, wrapping an arm around her and kicking toward the surface.

They came up next to an ice floe, and Skye hurled Melody over his head. She landed on her back, coughing. "Thanks, Skye," she said softly.

There was an immense rumbling, and from the glacier that housed Morgana's lair, powerful green light emerged, and a mighty castle made of eerie green ice spires burst out of the top. Morgana sat atop it, still clutching Ariel. "ALL HAIL QUEEN MORGANA!" she cackled.

King Triton appeared, Sebastian perched on his shoulder, and backed by a legion of merman guards. "Morgana!" Triton bellowed.

"Oh, please," Morgana sneered.

"Release my daughter and granddaughter immediately!" Triton commanded.

"Oh, what are you gonna do, throw the crab at me?" Morgana taunted. "I have the trident now, and all the creatures of the sea are in my power!"

She zapped Triton and his guards, who struggled against the energy but found themselves bowing down.

"You pitiful fools, watch and see how powerful I can be!" Morgana roared, as Ariel, too became complacent and limp.

"Creatures of the sea," Skye gasped, finding his own back bending. "Webby, quick!"

"I know, I'm trying!" Webby replied, thrusting her crystal up over her head with tremendous effort.

A flash of pink light, and Skye was hurled into the air, spinning end over end, before landing on the ice—landing on his own two feet. Max and Webby landed next to him.

Skye came up beside Melody, who was staring at Morgana's fortress in fear. "Mel?" he said gently.

Melody furrowed her brow, her face taking on a steely resolve. "Come on," she said.

The four of them rushed, straight as an arrow, for the evil castle—for a path to the top.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

After careful consideration, I've just edited this chapter. Why? Well, in the first draft a certain Beatles joke was… way, way too long. It was extremely embarrassing. So I toned it down. A lot.


	14. Choose Wisely

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

…I got nothing. Aros13, you still around? I'd like to publicly thank you for being, as of chapter 9, my one and only reviewer. One is a lot different than none, am I right? Thanks for your support!

**Choose Wisely**

There was a climb, a path, up the spooky green ice castle. Just at the base, several red-clad Heartless with eyepatches and curved swords popped up.

"Okay, we ready?" Max said. "Skye? Webby? Melody?"

"Um… I dunno," Melody said nervously.

Skye flung his huge Keyblade at some of the Pirates, disintegrating them. Two of the survivors sprouted spade-shaped purple wings and took to the air, diving at Melody and Webby. Webby threw up a barrier spell, deflecting her attacker, but Melody could only raise her arms in defense, and was soon overrun by several other Pirates and Air Pirates.

Skye and Max spun and slashed at the Heartless until Melody was safe.

"Sorry," Melody said, wincing. "I guess I won't be much help."

"It's okay, Mel," Skye said, squeezing her hand.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Max said, looking up at the fortress. "But if we're gonna get all four of us up there, we'll need better tactics."

"What we need is backup," Skye said. "We left Wally B. at the ships, right? Page him, Max."

Max produced his clicker.

"Great," Skye said, pulling out the tiny green shoe charm. "And I'll call Tinker Bell." He tossed the charm into the air, and the pixie appeared.

"Hey, Tink," he said. "Could you please protect Melody for me?"

Tink glanced from Skye to Melody, noticing the clear spark, and raised an eyebrow at Skye.

"What's your point?" Skye retorted. "Just stick with her."

Wally B. buzzed over Triton's head and hovered in front of Skye.

"Good, there you are," Skye said. "Keep us covered, B."

Wally B. shot into the air in a holding pattern above the group.

"Now we're ready to roll," Skye said.

The diminutive Keyblade wielder rampaged up the walkway, taking out the swarming Heartless without a thought. He barreled through several dozen through the first level of the climb, then hopped over to another spire and slammed another gathering of them.

Skye continued climbing up the green spires, then sprang out into the open air to hack at an Air Pirate. Wally B. came at it from the other direction, and they destroyed it together.

Webby followed Skye along the path, striking Heartless with lightning and fireballs. Max anchored the back of the party, guarding Melody.

As they came closer to Morgana, Melody overtook Skye in a zealous rage, accidentally walking right into a crowd of Shadows.

"Oh, it's turning into one of _these_," Skye grumbled. "Dang it, Melody."

He intercepted a Shadow as it tried to claw at her, knocking it back into some of its fellows and kicking another off the edge.

Melody screamed as more of the Heartless surrounded her and began to scratch at her skin; Skye battered them into submission, slashing with his oversized key like he never had before.

"Why did you do that?" Skye demanded.

Tinker Bell caught up and set to work healing Melody, glancing at Skye apologetically.

"Thanks, Tink," Skye said. "You've done good, pop back home."

Tink nodded and vanished in a burst of golden sparkles.

Max and Webby joined them, followed soon after by Wally B., who appeared a bit battered.

"Back in the coat, B?" Skye asked, offering his pocket. The bee nodded gratefully and dove in.

Melody pointed angrily. "There she is," she said.

Skye nodded, spotting Morgana. He flicked his Keyblade, shooting a jet of light at her.

Morgana cried out in agony and lost her grip on Ariel, who began falling toward the ocean, but managed to twist it into a swan dive as she hit the water.

Morgana whirled and glared at Melody and her companions. "Oh, it's you," she snarled.

"My friends and I are taking you down, Morgana!" Melody declared.

"Sweetheart, I'd like to see you try it!"

She brandished the trident, and Skye charged forward. Morgana got in the first blow, frying him with green lightning from the trident. Skye rolled, coming behind Morgana's back and battering her three times with the Keyblade, Max following up with a similar combo.

Morgana used the trident's power to take to the air, flying to the other side of the icy platform. Webby shot a fireball across the distance.

"Don't even try it, honey," Morgana snarled, dodging. She ignited the tines of the trident and rushed at Skye. Skye parried the flaming trident, and the two skirmished for a few seconds, before Morgana floated up into the air again, out of reach.

"Max, with me!" Skye said. Morgana surrounded her floating body with ice crystals. Skye tossed Max into the air in a curving arc, and he bypassed the ring of ice to land a hit. Max landed on the ground and Skye rushed him; Max tossed the boy straight up, and Skye swept the Keyblade over his head, knocking her through the air. Morgana skidded across the ground.

Skye ran, but Morgana blocked his first attack. Skye feinted to the left, and as Morgana attempted to block again, he came in from the right, knocking the trident out of her hand.

"Skye, over here!" Melody called, waving her hand.

Skye kicked the trident into the air and tossed it at Melody. Together, they shot bolts of energy at Morgana, who screamed in pain as she oozed across the ground toward Melody. Max and Webby attacked Morgana from behind, but she batted them away with her tentacles, then used a third tentacle to choke Melody.

Skye leapt to close the distance between Melody and himself, batting at Morgana until she was thrown off of Melody. Morgana was battered, but she had managed to wrench the trident out of Melody's hands. Melody retreated to the sidelines once again.

"AH-HAHAHAHA!" Morgana cackled evilly. "This one's for Ursula!"

Another lightning bolt crackled. Skye grabbed his side, and Max was knocked clear off his feet.

Skye countered with a Fire spell, this one hitting Morgana squarely.

"And this one's for Mom!" Morgana bellowed.

Skye sidestepped the third lightning bolt, then cast a quick Cure spell on himself, then another on Max.

The trio tiptoed out of range of the deadly bolts, and Morgana swooped in, conjuring yet another blizzard. Skye grabbed Webby, and both of them rolled out of the way, but were unfortunately nicked by the aftereffects of the cold.

Skye jumped and attempted to attack Morgana, but she floated out of his reach with each successive attack. Getting overconfident, she prepared a Blizzard spell, and Skye managed to nick her and interrupt her casting.

"Webby," Skye said curtly, holding out his hand. Webby enchanted Skye and herself to float together. They caught up to the fleeing Morgana, casting a swooping Fire spell that danced around Morgana's attempts to retaliate. Max got in a few solid blows while Morgana was occupied by the other two's synchronized spellcasting.

Skye broke apart from Webby and got in a few hits of his own. Morgana's lightning sizzled him, and he ducked behind an icy spire.

Morgana tried to come around the spire for a surprise attack, but Skye was faster, coming all the way around to throw in a downward strike. Trident clashed against Keyblade once again. Skye twisted the hilt, disarming Morgana a second time. Melody scooped up the trident again, and Morgana crawled toward her menacingly.

"Grandfather," Melody said matter-of-factly, "I think this belongs to you."

She tossed the trident over her shoulder, toward King Triton.

"NO!" Morgana roared.

Triton caught it, and was instantly free from Morgana's magic. He aimed the trident at the green-skinned woman.

"Never again will you and yours threaten my family!" Triton bellowed. He shot a jet of energy at Morgana, and a block of ice sprang into being around her.

"Mommy?" Morgana muttered pitifully, just before she slid off of her grotesque tower and plummeted into the ocean, sinking out of sight, unable to move.

Melody's knees gave way; Skye catching her before she could hit the ice. He supported her as they began the long walk back down to the level of the water.

"Skye," Max said.

"Yeah, buddy?" Skye replied softly.

"Listen, I'm sorry I was such a naysayer through this whole world," Max forced out. "Maybe I was moody as a side effect of being turned into a walrus, or, I don't know. But you did this, Skye. I thought you were gonna get us all killed, but you pulled it off." Max chuckled. "And you and Melody, well… you're clearly both smitten. It's cute."

Skye paused, noticing something at the foot of Morgana's fortress. "Hey, look," he said. "A diamond."

He bent over, Melody still in his arms, and picked up the object. Like the white one he'd picked up at Paradise Falls, it was opaque and lacked sheen, but this one was teal. "I… I think there's someone in this one too," he said. "Another… friend, I guess. I guess we'll have to show it to the Master."

"Mom?" Melody muttered weakly.

"She's right over here, Mel," Skye said, setting her down on her feet.

Ariel had hauled herself onto the ice, and sat there expectantly, smiling at her daughter.

"I'm sorry," Melody whispered.

"No, sweetie, I'm sorry," Ariel said. "I should have told you who you are."

"I didn't want to hurt anyone," Melody said. "I just… thought I'd be a better mermaid than a girl."

"Oh, Melody," Ariel said with a smile. "It doesn't matter if you have fins or feet… your father and I love you for who you are… our brave little girl." She handed Melody her shell necklace.

"Oh, Mom, it's…" Melody stammered. "It's Skye who did all the hero stuff…"

"Aw, Melody, you're brave too," Skye said quickly.

"Not as much as you," Melody insisted. "No matter what you are, a human or… well, I just…"

"I really do like you, Melody…" Skye said, finding himself somehow stepping toward her. She was slightly taller, but they met in the middle in a very brief, awkward kiss.

Skye must have forgotten for a moment that Melody's mother was right in front of him… and he felt the very large and powerful presence of King Triton coming up behind him as well.

"Um… hi, Your Majesty," he said in a squeaky voice, averting his eyes.

King Triton placed a strong hand on Skye's shoulder, tapping him gently, then turned to Melody. "Melody… I've wanted to meet you for so long."

"Hello, Grandfather," Melody said, walking up to hug him.

"Melody, I'm going to give you a choice," Triton said gently. "You can come with me to Atlantica, and be a mermaid forever… or you can return with your mother to your home on land. It's up to you."

Melody contemplated for a moment. "I've got a better idea," she said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Melody stood on a rock in the sea, and aimed the trident at the great wall of her city. "Now we can all be together!" she said, as the wall dissolved.

"Ooh, I like the sound of that, man!" Sebastian said exuberantly.

Melody dove into the ocean, and humans and merpeople came together where the water met the land. Ariel, human again and in a blue dress, met with her daughter and they embraced.

"Now it's a real party!" Sebastian called out.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"So, Max," Ariel said. "You're Goofy's son, aren't you?"

Max lifted his head proudly. "Why, yes, yes I am."

"I couldn't quite tell before," Ariel admitted. "With you changing into different sea creatures… but now, I can't believe I missed it."

Max shrugged. "We're pretty different… but I try to take after him."

"I think you do," Ariel assured him. "Your father is the greatest warrior I've ever known."

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to accomplish myself," Max said, rolling his neck.

"So, King Triton," Webby chirped. "We're here looking for Midghosts. Have you seen any?"

"Midghosts?" Triton repeated, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"Yeah," Webby said. "They're big and tall like humans, with claws and gray robes. And everyone who looks into their eyes—"

"Sees their own," Triton said in sudden realization. "Yes, they've been menacing Atlantica for the longest time. They stopped appearing right about the time that Melody went missing."

"That's so strange," Webby said. "We _hear_ about them being everywhere, but we've only ever seen two…"

"Well, if they're besieging other worlds, I'm sure our Keyblade-bearing friends can handle it," Triton said sincerely.

Melody and Skye had made their way to the balcony outside Melody's bedroom, looking down at the festivities. He had his arm around her, his fingers brushing against hers.

"You know, this is new to me," he said. "I'm used to being the shy one."

"That's hard to believe," Melody whispered. "You seem so confident."

"Something about you, I guess," Skye said.

"If anyone's the shy one, it's me," Melody muttered.

Max and Webby's Gummi pods floated up to the balcony. "Time to go, Skye," Max said. "We've swept the worlds we were supposed to, it's time to report back to Master Sora."

"Okay, guys," Skye said. He looked over at Melody. "Now I feel bad… about us ever being involved, when I have other… responsibilities…"

"Oh, it's okay, Skye," Melody said. "Better to be together for just a little while… than never to have met at all. We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

Skye kissed her gently. "I'll keep thinking about you. And if I ever get a vacation or something… I'll visit. We'll meet again."

"Cool," Melody said, smiling.

"By the way, Max," Skye said, brandishing a book he'd picked up in Melody's bedroom. "The word you were looking for was 'chelonia', and it only refers to sea turtles. The big group as a whole would be called 'testudines'."

Max smacked his forehead. "Testudines! Of course."

Skye called up his Glider. "All right, let's do this thing."

They blasted off through the world's boundaries.

"Okay, this has been bugging me: she's a bit young for you, isn't she?" Max asked Skye.

"How so?" Skye said. "She's twelve, I'm thirteen."

"You're—you are?" Max said, surprised. "Since when?"

"Since my most recent birthday, I suppose," Skye said dryly.

Max shrugged. "Eh, you just seemed older. Shorter, but older."

"Thank you for that," Skye grumbled.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Xefrii floated through the Keyblade Graveyard, maneuvering through the rows upon rows of buried blades. He finally found what he was looking for: Ciexu, sitting cross-legged in the middle of an empty circle.

"Ah, there you are," he said, bobbing towards her. She didn't reply.

"So…" Xefrii said casually. "Nice Brotherhood you've put together here."

She only sighed in response.

"I was just… thinking," the black-haired boy went on. "Working with these people who use darkness so flamboyantly… kind of makes us look like the bad guys, doesn't it?"

She didn't answer.

"Unless that's what you're going for," Xefrii said. "In which case, multiple kudoses. That's why you're the leader and I'm just your figurehead. Though how effective that ruse is going to be remains to be seen, considering your little, ah, outburst earlier."

Ciexu scoffed and looked away.

"Hey," Xefrii said cheerfully. "I just had me a crazy idea: how about you answer me when I'm talking to you?"

She rolled her empty pink eyes, then complied. "Darkness is a useful tool which need not dictate our actions," she said.

Xefrii nodded. "Okay."

"The members of the Brotherhood, too, are just tools, whose lives we may discard at our convenience."

"Um… sure, okay," he said uneasily.

"And when our tools put us in reach of the beloved primordial light I have dedicated my existence to finding…" she continued, her face breaking into a wicked smile.

"Yes?" Xefrii said eagerly.

"Then, we may sink the Keyblade, and all who wield it, and all the worlds they defend… into my image, a horror beyond imagination."

"Uh-huh."

"Because…" Ciexu sneered. "What have their hearts ever done for me?"

Xefrii nodded, entranced. "It'll all be as you say."


	15. Toughest Lesson

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

So, as my playwriting class draws to a close, I've learned something. When you try to say something funny and nobody thinks it's funny? That's not such a big deal. Happens to everybody. The big deal? When you're dead serious and everybody thinks it's funny. That's about a thousand times worse.

I have this idea for a play, right, about disembodied demons taking over people's minds and inheriting the earth. I feel like it'll be the epic and terrifying blockbuster thriller of the winter semester. I hand in a summary, and my teacher looks over it and says, with a straight face, "So it's a comedy?"

_NOOOOOOOOOO_.

So we go over it point by point. Every horrifying plot twist, every nightmarish concept, she thinks it's supposed to be funny. She's completely bewildered when I say it's supposed to be a straight-up drama. That's the worst moment in the life of a writer, right there. Kind of like if you were a painter, and you work your ass off on this one huge painting, and an art critic comes by and says, "Ah, what a masterful abstract painting!" And you, the painter, have to tell him… it's not supposed to be abstract. It's horrible.

**Toughest Lesson**

Lando maneuvered through a spacious sewer, skittering on the stone ridges and hopping over the precariously-floating debris, anything to avoid the green-black water. He came to a dry spot, a platform of blue bricks. On the back wall was a huge red lever. He tugged it, and the walls parted, revealing a rusted valve.

He attempted to turn it, but nothing happened. He turned around and noticed that a red button had appeared on the floor. He stomped on it, and a gun-shaped machine popped out of the ceiling and shot a lightning bolt at him.

Lando conjured his dual mini-Keyblades, the Filthy Fangs. Their handles were red and ornate, while their bodies were a featureless, steely gray, and their heads wickedly curved hooks. He crossed them over his head, and the lightning bounced off and was redirected toward the valve, turning it with ease.

"Sweet," he commented.

A female voice came up over an intercom system. "Okay, Gummi pod hangars are operational! Come on up."

An enormous, white-gloved hand attached to a mechanical arm was lowered, and Lando grabbed on, allowing it to lift him up into the next chamber.

Two doors had opened in the side of Disney Castle, just the right size for a pair of one-man Gummi pods to enter. As Lando watched, more machinery powered up, raising up small stands for the pods to rest, and walls to buffet them…

The Queen was there waiting for Lando, along with Daisy. But Lando's focus zeroed in on the being who had become his favorite during his time at the castle. Her name was Gadget, and apparently she had recently usurped the position of Disney Castle's prime engineer. She was miniscule, with blond hair and cream-colored fur, dressed in a lavender tracksuit and with a pair of goggles on her brow.

"Well done, Lando," Gadget said. "We're at full power!"

"Thanks. Just doin' my job," Lando said smugly.

"Well, you're a great techie," Gadget said, looking over the machinery.

"You too, babe," Lando said. He kneeled down, and she bumped her tiny fist against his.

Another voice came up over the intercom, this one squeaky and rapid. "Gadget, we need you up here pronto. They're incoming!"

"Right away, Chip!" Gadget called. She scurried out of the room, and Lando watched her go with vested interest.

"Well, _that_ is easily the most gorgeous girl under a foot tall I've ever seen," Lando said. "She's a mouse, right?" he inquired of the queen.

"Yes."

Lando pondered that as he looked over the queen. "I thought _you_ were a mouse," he said. "But you're nothing like her…"

"Oh, well," Minnie giggled, "that's true, we're both mice, but vastly different. You see, 'mouse' is just a state of mind, Lando."

Lando hesitated. "…Wait, what?"

"Huh?" Daisy agreed.

"You're right, that makes no sense," Minnie said hastily. "Well, suffice it to say, here at Disney Castle, things work differently than they do elsewhere. Best not to think about it too hard."

Lando laughed. "Okay."

He turned his head as he heard the crackling sound of the world's perimeter being breached. Two pods entered through the holes in the wall, and Max and Webby popped out. Skye simply materialized between them, in his full suit of lavender Keyblade armor. He pounded his shoulder and reverted to his normal clothes.

"Lando!" he said jovially. "How we doing, brother?"

"Hey, nice to see ya," Lando replied. "Nice that you're alive, I mean. I didn't think you'd get through this without me there to change your diaper."

Skye scowled. "Your condescension is appreciated," he said facetiously, brushing past Lando. Max and Webby followed him, and they started off.

"Your sarcasm is soooo _very_ appreciated," Lando whispered, just loudly enough to be heard.

Skye stopped in his tracks and grinned. It was on.

"Your heightened sarcasm," he said delicately, "IS DRIVING ME UP THE FREAKIN' WALL!" He spun on Lando, his face contorted with mock fury.

"Well, your over-the-top rage makes me laugh," Lando said. "Straight from the belly, like so: hahahaha!"

"Your depraved amusement at my pain is depressing," Skye said pitifully.

"And your pathetic sadness is—"

"Okay, gentlemen!" Max declared, stepping between them. "Are we done here?"

Skye shrugged. "I've got more."

"We could do this all day," Lando agreed.

"Well, don't, we've got grown-ups to talk to," Max said. "Hello, Your Highness."

"And hello to you, Max," Minnie said graciously. "Skye, Master Sora is waiting for you up above."

"Thank you, ma'am," Skye said, bowing.

All of them began to make their way down the corridors of Disney Castle. "I think Riku and I are taking off soon," Lando said.

"_Master_ Riku," Skye corrected automatically.

"Yeah, him," Lando said, rolling his eyes. "So, uh, since we're leaving… if you see Gadget, the mechanic girl? Tell her I think she's hot, would you?"

Skye snorted, amused. "Will do."

They parted ways in the castle courtyard, and Sora dropped down from some high-up location and landed delicately right in front of Skye, Max, and Webby.

"Ah, Skye, I hoped you'd be here by now," the Master said. "Hoped, because while I may be a super-Master, it turns out that for some reason, I _can't_ feel the exact location of the hearts of everyone I know, wherever they are, all the time. It's weird."

"Um… are Masters supposed to be able to do that?" Skye said, confused.

"No, but we _should_," Sora said thoughtfully as they entered the castle's halls. "It'd be great. Anyway, how was Midghost patrol?"

"…We saw two," Skye said, lowering his eyes in embarrassment.

"_Two?_"

"Two, on the first world we visited," Skye confirmed. "We heard of them being on other worlds, but never saw any others ourselves."

"Strange," Sora said, scratching his chin. "From all I've heard, you can't swing a cat in these worlds without a whole horde of them comin' at ya. Not here, of course—the Cornerstone keeps the place safe. Hmm… I'll have to do a scan myself. Ah, well. Max, Webby, why don't you guys hit town? Me and Skye will touch base."

Max nodded, and he and Webby walked off in separate directions, disappearing down the halls of the castle. Skye passed Wally B.'s journal to Master Sora, who looked over the entry on the Midghost battle.

"That is… disturbing," Sora said quietly. "Ah, well. I assume your first world-hop wasn't a _total_ wash? You've got a bit of a spring in your step, there."

"No, it was great," Skye said, smiling. "We made friends, saw some amazing things. Defeated some dangerous villains who probably wouldn't have been brought down otherwise…"

"Villains?" Sora said with interest. "You don't say. Bind!" He snapped his fingers, and magical energy shot out to zap Skye.

Skye looked down at his feet, then to Sora in his confusion. "Master Sora, I can't move my legs."

"I know," Sora said. "We don't have much time together, so if I'm gonna get a chance to get all Master-ish, I wanna do it right. I'm gonna ask you a philosophical, moral sort of question, and I won't let you go until I get an answer I like."

"Um, okay," Skye said nervously.

"So here's our conundrum," Sora said. "Mmkay? Who is more villainous: a predator stalking his prey, or a prey animal doing everything he can to foil the same predator's efforts?"

Skye considered it, trying not to jump onto the obvious answer. "Well, neither," he said. "They're both just trying to stay alive."

"Uh-huh, but what if they can both talk?" Sora said promptly.

"…What?"

"It's not hypothetical—there are a surprising amount of worlds where that's exactly the case, predators and prey who would be able to have a civil conversation if they weren't trying to kill each other. So who's the villain?"

"Uh, the predator," Skye said. "Because he's killing something just as intelligent as he is."

"Yes, but he's a carnivore," Sora countered. "He has to kill intelligent things, or he'll starve. This kind of thing goes on in the Pride Lands every day. The royal family are all lions, so they have to eat their own subjects. And the subjects, they pretty much have to deal with it. But they still accept the lions as their kings, because they know that's the way nature works. So—same question. Who is the villain in our scenario?"

Skye thought long and hard. "There's no easy answer, Master."

"Bingo," Sora said, snapping his fingers once again to release Skye's legs.

Skye stared at his Master in surprise. "That's the correct answer? There's no easy answer?"

Sora nodded. "We live in a world of lights and darknesses, but it's not always as easy as black versus white. Take, for example, Hector Barbossa."

"Who?"

"Barbossa—pirate captain. I've had a few run-ins with him in years past. First time we crossed paths, he was undead and wanted to live again. A noble enough pursuit, right? Problem was, he was willing to cut the throats of anyone who stood in his way. That's where we disagreed. So I had no regrets about, you know, killing him. Eventually, he was brought back and chose the right side in this huge, world-shattering conflict that I… didn't entirely understand. Lots of deceptions and gambles and sub-plots and—point is, I've worked a bit with Barbossa, I've worked a lot with his old friend Jack Sparrow, the guy who ended up winning the day. I couldn't tell you if either of them is a good guy or a bad guy, but Barbossa is the one I'm still in touch with."

"…Even though you killed him," Skye said doubtfully.

"Yeah. I mean, he gets where I was coming from, he's a pirate after all," Sora said nostalgically. "So, you know, you might think someone's a villain, but you've got to consider their motivations. There's a lot of gray area involved. And the grayest gray area of all? Organization XIII. I assume you know all about them?"

"To a certain extent," Skye said. "Not a lot."

"Okay, well, they were Nobodies. You do know what—?"

"Nobodies, yeah, I know about them," Skye said quickly. "Do go on."

"Right—Organization XIII were Nobodies, and like Barbossa they wanted to go back to being real people. Their methods…" Sora seethed uncomfortably, plainly overcome by dark memories. "Anyway, I pretty much destroyed them all, one by one. Sometimes I wonder if I could have had an alternative. Would they have been better people, if they were whole? I think most of them would have. Not all, but most. A lot of them weren't at all bad, just misguided, I think." Sora sighed. "I don't know. You've seen the tribute to Master Aqua and the others? There are a lot of people I ought to have saved, but… didn't. I'll have to be happy with the lodging I've given to three of them in my heart." Sora tapped his chest. "Roxas, Xion, and Axel. They talk to me sometimes, they're happy, but I just wish they were alive. You know?" He sighed, then perked up rapidly. "But enough about me! With all that I've told you, about gray areas and motivations: do you still say the people you defeated were villains?"

"Yes," Skye said immediately. "They were hurting innocent people for selfish gains. No gray area to speak of."

"You're sure?" Sora challenged.

"Positive."

Sora smirked and nodded. "Confidence, that's good. I believe that you really do know what you're talking about. So, now that we've passed the sad stuff—you said you've made some friends, but you didn't mention the more-than-friends… like, say, Melody?"

"I—huh?" Skye said, shocked.

"Ariel wrote me a letter," Sora said, holding up a rectangular, glowing-blue device. "My friend Cid made me this computer, see—anyone whose heart I've touched who wants to get a message to me can, whether they're scratching it into the dirt with a stick or… however it is you normally send a message with a computer." He laughed. "I don't know the first thing about computers, but the point is it works. Ariel told me you got a bit kissy and huggy with her daughter. Didn't think you had it in you."

"Yeah," Skye said, blushing. "I mean, I really do like her… I hope I can go back to see her someday. I mean, we're going to be on different worlds, so I don't expect exclusivity or whatever from her. But I think I… you know, I hope she never forgets that I'm out here, thinking about her. Hmm…" He chuckled awkwardly. "It feels weird, that I'd do something like that. You know, I just never imagined that I'd be one of those Keybladers of legend, who travels the worlds romancing beautiful women and then taking off. It's not my thing."

"You're more a commitment kind of guy, I get it," Sora said. "So, I assume if you ever _do_ want to pursue another girl…"

"I couldn't," Skye said. "I'd have to run back and talk to Melody first…" He looked at the smiling face of Sora. "So, were you ever…?"

"No, no," Sora said quickly. "I pretty much started my whole 'journey-with-the-key' already knowing who it was I wanted to be with."

"Master Kairi?"

"Right. So I never even looked around… didn't even cross my mind," Sora said, smiling. "Riku tried it, the Captain Kirk bit, for a couple of years after we became Masters. Putzed around, doing Kingdom-Hearts-knows-what to spend nights in all the beds that the worlds had to offer… Eventually he realized that, yes, there was one woman in existence who _could_ stand to look at him for more than five minutes, and that she could be found right where he started."

Riku stepped unexpectedly out of a shadow, Lando right on his heel. "Is someone talking about me?" the dark Master said menacingly. He laughed jovially. "Talking about Selphie, I should say? She's magnificent. Don't know what I'd do without her. In my cold and shrouded existence, she's… she's… well, she's a sun-gold minidress-slash-overalls against my life's black backdrop."

Skye shot an inquiring glance at Lando, who shrugged, apparently not having any idea what it meant either.

"Saw that," Riku said, flicking Lando in the head with his finger. Lando stared at Skye in disbelief; he had been standing behind Riku, who hadn't turned around in the slightest; there was no way the Master could have actually seen the gesture. Either Master Riku had some extra sense brought about by his unique powers, or he simply knew Lando too well.

"Oh, Master!" Skye said, suddenly remembering. He produced his two diamonds, one white and one teal. "I found these on my travels. Do you know what they are? My Keyblade seems to like them."

Sora laughed as he took them in his hand. "Ah, I haven't seen one of these in years. I think these entities can be summoned. Riku, what do you think?"

"Definitely," Riku said, not even touching the diamonds. "Looks to me like these individuals' worlds blinked out, briefly, just long enough for their hearts to take refuge in these diamonds and find new worlds, worlds they identified with. This is just conjecture on my part, of course. But I _can_ tell you that their worlds are intact and they're going on with their lives. You can still summon them, though, and based on the emanations I'm getting from their hearts, they would be entirely willing to help you."

"Coooool," Sora said. "Let's test them out!" He drew the Kingdom Key and tapped each diamond once. "Unlocked. Riku, you got any bad guys on you?"

"Naturally," Riku said, smiling.

"Here you go, Skye," Sora said, passing the diamonds back to his student. "Pick one and whip it out."

Sora and Riku stepped back, giving Skye a wide radius. Lando followed suit somewhat belatedly.

Riku raised a hand, and a half-circle of Neoshadows rose out of the floor.

"What the heck?" Skye squeaked.

"Gonna summon something, or what?" Riku called out.

"Right, right," Skye said hastily. He picked a diamond at random—the white one he'd picked up in Paradise Falls. As he held it, he could sense that it was indeed unlocked, and he instinctively knew the being's name: "Bolt!"

The creature materialized in front of Skye's feet: a large dog, pure white apart from a dark gray lightning bolt on his side. The dog looked up at Skye with interest.

"Um, hi there, Bolt," Skye said. "Can you help me out?"

The dog turned and looked at the advancing Neoshadows. He raised his hackles, growled, and stood his ground in a defensive position in front of Skye.

"Wow," Skye said, already impressed at Bolt's determination to defend him.

He would be beyond impressed a second later, as Bolt's eyes glowed red. Beams of energy shot from his eyes, vaporizing the Neoshadows one at a time as they came closer.

"Keep them coming," Sora advised. Riku lifted his hand again, and more Heartless appeared.

"Stay with me, Bolt!" Skye pleaded, drawing his Keyblade. Bolt jumped to his side and began tearing through the Shadows with his paws as Skye swung his key.

As a pair of Large Bodies rose up before them, Bolt pushed Skye back, then dug his paws into the ground and gave a mighty bark. The two huge Heartless cracked in half… as did the corridor's floor.

Bolt collapsed, apparently exhausted. Skye bent down to comfort him. "Good boy, Bolt," he said. "Go home… I promise next time I call you it'll actually be important."

Bolt nuzzled Skye just before he vanished in a burst of white light. The white diamond reappeared in Skye's hand, and he pocketed it.

Sora stepped up, applauding. "That, my friend, was impressive."

"Dude… jealous," Lando said. "That was the most awesome thing I've ever seen."

"Would you care to test the other one?" Riku said. "I have Heartless to spare."

"Oh, I'm sure you do, Master Riku," Skye said uneasily. "And, uh, thanks… but I think I'll let the other one be a surprise. You know… wait until I'm in the thick of it before I throw the gem down."

"That… is extremely reckless," Sora said solemnly. He then gave Skye two thumbs up. "NICE!"

Skye was too busy staring uneasily at Master Riku to be amused by Sora's reaction. Riku nodded, understanding.

"I summon Heartless for my own purposes," he said. "If my aim is teaching you how to destroy them, is it really an act of darkness?"

"I guess not," Skye said, shrugging. "But I thought Disney Castle had a Cornerstone? To fend off creatures of darkness?"

"Oh, and you don't think I can circumvent that?" Riku said, smirking dramatically, his one visible eye glittering mischievously. "Who do you suppose you're talking to?"

Skye stared at him in horror.

"…What?" Riku said defensively. "I'm not dangerous. Well, I am, but not to anyone who walks in the light." He chuckled, then clapped his hands powerfully. The sound was deafening, and with a mighty scrape of stone, the structural damage that had been caused by Bolt's super-bark was repaired. "Come, Lando. To our research."

Riku opened a Corridor of Darkness and stepped through it. Lando followed, walking backwards, while pointing at Skye sternly. "You're gonna tell Gadget—"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Skye said, waving his hand dismissively. "Get outta here."

"Research," Sora said thoughtfully as the Corridor vanished. "Yeah, I'd better get to some of that myself… I'd like to battle a couple of these Midghosts in person. Sorry I can't teach you any further just now, Skye."

"You mean…" Skye said. "But I thought my journey was over now…"

"Not by a long shot," Sora said, nodding. "But there are people in Disney Castle and the outlying town who can instruct you in battle techniques and better magic. Learn as much as you can today, then—" He handed Skye a scrap of paper with a map scribbled on it. "Hit all the accessible worlds in _this_ vicinity. See if you can, at the very least, pick up more info on Midghosts. Because we still don't have the faintest idea what they really are."

"As you command, Master," Skye said, bowing. "Then what?"

"Then, Destiny Islands," Sora said. "If I'm not there, Master Kairi will be. She'll continue you on your way… I'll probably be there, though."

"Continue me on my way?" Skye said. "You mean, even after I do _this_…" He looked at the map. "You really think this Midghost thing is going to take that long?"

"Longer," Sora said simply. "There's something big brewing, I just know it somehow. I only wish I knew _what_…" He sighed through his nose, then clicked his tongue, winked at Skye and shot him a gun-hand. "Catch you later, kid. Keep Max and Webby safe—and yourself."

"Yes, Master."


	16. Life's Grand Questions

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

My latest Disney-related obsession: _Sofia the First_. In case you're not aware, it's an upcoming (actually, by the time I get this online, it'll probably have already aired, and aired a lot) show on Disney Junior. They aired a little movie for it a while back. Sofia is a girl whose mother marries the king; Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are her teachers, Wayne Brady is her bunny sidekick, and Cinderella turns up at some point during the movie, conjured up by this magical necklace that binds all princesses together to offer Sofia some stepsibling advice.

Or something like that. I haven't actually seen the movie or any episodes, but I'm already obsessed. The questions are bouncing around. Questions like… Does Cinderella's song imply she blames herself for her familial abuse? Are all the political correctness people gonna be all up in arms about that? If Cinderella is still on bad terms with both stepsisters, does that mean _Cinderella III_ never happened? Does this finally provide an explanation for the redesigned Cinderella that started showing up in all the stores sometime this past year? Are all ten of the other Disney Princesses ever going to pop up in the show? Will they be redesigned too?

The most important question: is it going to suck? It has potential, it doesn't have to suck. I don't want it to suck; I wanna be a fan. But what if it sucks? I'm terrified of that.

I'm giving it a chance, because Sofia herself, as a character, appears to be both awesome and adorable. Largely I'm giving her a chance because of her equally awesome/adorable voice actress, Ariel Winter of _Modern Family_ fame, whom you might also know as Little!Kairi in _Birth By Sleep_. Fun fact: Ariel Winter currently lives with her much-older sister, Shanelle Gray, who plays Larxene. Given the time frame, I think that both of them being in _KH_ is just a coincidence.

**Life's Grand Questions**

Max walked side-by-side with King Mickey down the halls of the castle.

"So, I've been concerned about something, Your Majesty," Max was saying. "Isn't there some non-interference deal that we're supposed to abide by as world travelers?"

"Eh, not so much," Mickey said, shrugging. "Sora had that rule officially abolished."

"That's what I thought," Max said thoughtfully. "But why?"

"We just don't do it anymore. Years ago, I spoke to Sora, I reminded him that Keyblade Masters aren't supposed to meddle in the affairs of other worlds. And he said… 'Yeah we are'." The king laughed. "That was it, that was our whole conversation. Sora considers all the lives he's saved, all the friends he's made, proof positive that we _are_ supposed to meddle, that destiny says we should. I suppose it's true. Sure, Sora could make friends in an empty room, but it's not just him. Without the Keyblade wielders of the past 'interfering'—the three lost Masters, specifically—I think most of the Princesses of Heart would have died before realizing their potential. So, I consider the non-interference clause a loose guideline, at best. Besides, we Keyblade wielders are more plentiful and legendary than ever before; everyone in the worlds knows a Keyblade when they see one."

"So there's no point in hiding anyway," Max said, nodding. "Just wanted to be sure we're doing this whole thing right."

Skye approached them. "Hey, Max," he said. "So, Master Sora wants the three of us to stay here for a day, then hit the road again."

"Really?" Max said, surprised. "Hmph. But how are we supposed to gather intel on Midghosts if we never see one? We might be completely wasting our time."

Mickey smiled at the pair of them. "If you're meeting new people and seeing new things, it's never a waste of time. I wish you boys the best of luck—take care of Webby; her family worries about her. Don't do anything reckless, don't stop for hitchhiking ghosts, and don't give a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos. Wait, scratch that. _Do_ give a yo-yo to flamingos, if you get the chance. But the hitchhiking ghosts thing still applies, don't pick them up."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Skye said, grinning. "Master Sora said there were people around here who could train me?"

"Start with Chip and Dale," Mickey said. "They're in the queen's study. Good luck, boys!"

"Where are you going, sir?" Max said.

"I'm going to the Cornerstone to meditate," the King replied. "I know if I open my heart enough, I'll understand more about this 'torn veil' Geri talked about."

The King departed. Skye and Max made their way down the red-carpeted halls, passing, to Skye's surprise, a walking, faceless wooden broom.

Max led Skye to a room at the end of the hall. It had a tiled floor and was lined with bookshelves, and cluttered tables were scattered throughout. The Queen sat at a table, talking with two very tiny fellows, one in a Hawaiian shirt and with a wild hairstyle, the other in a trench coat and fedora. Webby and Donald sat together, poring over Webby's spellbook, and Goofy quickly stood up and ran to Max and hugged him.

"Maxy!" he said, relieved. "I've been so worried."

"I know, Dad," Max said, hugging his father back. "I've missed you too, but I'm dealing with it."

"Webby, we're continuing on our journey tomorrow morning," Skye informed the tiny mage.

"I know," she replied. "Unca Donald is helping me upgrade my spellbook."

"This is going to get dangerous," Donald said, scratching liner notes after each chant with a quill. He passed the book to Webby. "Memorize these, Webby, it's the 'ra' form of each of your spells. It'll come in handy."

"Wow, can I learn that?" Skye asked. "I could use a couple of those. I was told to see Chip and Dale?"

"Here they are," the Queen said, indicating the two diminutive individuals on her table, who hopped down, turning to face Skye. "Chip here, Dale here—the engineers here at our castle."

"We can't teach you magic," said Dale, the one in the red shirt, who had a huge cherry-red nose. "But I think I know what Sora had in mind."

"Yeah," said Chip, adjusting his hat. "Come with us to the entrance hall."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Skye followed the duo down the castle's halls, right up to the front castle doors. Three others joined them.

"This is our crew," Chip said grandly. "This is Gadget—" Skye took note of her, chuckling inwardly at Lando's taste. "And Monterey Jack—" Another mouse, bigger than Chip, Dale, and Gadget but still a good deal smaller than the King and Queen, with a bright red mustache and flight cap. "And Zipper!" A tiny blue fly in a red t-shirt, hovering by Monterey Jack's shoulder.

Wally B. popped out of Skye's coat and darted to a spot just in front of Zipper. The two insects inspected each other for a few moments; Zipper then pre-empted Wally B.'s signature nose-tweak with a two-handed twist of his own. Wally B. retreated back into Skye's pocket irritably.

"Gadget has recently installed this obstacle course that should serve your needs," Chip continued.

"That's right," Gadget said, producing a large and complex remote control. "Stand back…" She pressed a button, and a series of frightening and deadly-looking traps erupted from the floors and walls of the entire hallway.

"These spikes, flames, and explosive bubbles pop out of the wall in patterns," Gadget explained. "Your job is to defend yourself! You can deflect, dodge, jump over 'em, whatever floats your boat. It's all non-lethal… I think. I mainly put it in to ward off traveling salesmen."

Chip and Dale sighed, both plainly lovestruck.

Skye knelt down and leaned in toward Monterey Jack. "Um… is this a good idea?" he whispered confidentially.

"Eh, yeah, I'll grant you Gadget's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor," the burly mouse said with a shrug. "But she's a brilliant mechanic, a bona fide genius."

Zipper nodded.

"I think you should do it," Monterey said reassuringly. "While I watch. From way over here."

"Wonderful," Skye grumbled. "Okay, so I start here at the castle doors, and get to the other end?"

"Yup," Gadget said. "Whenever you're ready, go for it."

Skye produced his Keyblade and stood at the threshold of the trap course. His first concern was the series of spikes shooting rapidly out of the wall and slowly withdrawing.

He was ready to go. He darted forward, dodging the first spike, then dipped to the side to dodge a second. He deflected a third with his blade, but was surprised when one popped out of the opposite wall, grazing his side.

As he recovered, he realized the floor under his feet was rotating—indeed, the floor of most of the course was taken up by numerous circular platforms which were now in motion.

Skye spotted the flame-spitting jet just before it activated, and had to limbo underneath it. He edged along the platform, keeping his eye on the next jet of fire. When it turned off, he slid past it and stepped to the next rotating circle.

"Wow, Gadget," Dale said. "This is impressive."

"This is nothing," Gadget said. "Check this out."

She hit a button. From beyond the end of the obstacle course, a pillar rose out of the floor. Atop the pillar was a plate of cheese.

Monterey's eye twitched. "Ch… ch… CHEEE-EEEE-EESE!" he roared. He barreled through the obstacle course, bowling over Skye in his mad rush.

"Whoa!" Skye exclaimed, nearly falling. He righted himself before he could touch the oncoming bubble—a bubble the size of his head, bright red-orange and pulsing with fire. He slipped past it, and found he was in a full field of these bubbles.

He jumped over a few that were floating around near his feet, but inadvertently grazed one. It exploded, blasting him into the air and beyond the pillar, where Monterey Jack was flat on his back and bloated.

"Was that the end?" Skye said blankly.

"Yup," Gadget said, pressing a button to shut down all the traps. "You learn something from that?"

"Yeah, my reflexes need work," he said, standing up. "It happens, I guess. Oh, by the way, Gadget…"

"Yeah?" she said absently.

"Lando wanted me to tell you you're hot. Just wanted me to pass that on."

Chip and Dale bristled.

"Yeah?" Gadget said, looking up in surprise. "Well, I guess wearing this sweatsuit in seventy-degree Disney Town heat isn't the best idea, but I'm comfortable. I appreciate his concern, though." She beamed. "Bye!"

Skye raised his eyebrows in surprise as she walked away, then turned back to Chip and Dale. "Is she always that oblivious?"

"Yeah," the two of them said glumly.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"So, Donald," Skye said, looking down the dark staircase hidden underneath Disney Castle's throne. "You can teach me better magic?"

"Of course," Donald said. "I'm the best archmage in the worlds!"

Skye looked back at Donald; the two of them were pacing the throne room, joined by Max, Webby, and Goofy.

"But a mage is only as good as his allies," Donald continued. "Without Goofy's protection and Sora's raw energy, I'd be nothing."

"You're a formerly trained Keyblade wielder—" Goofy began.

"Formally," Donald corrected.

"Formally," Goofy acknowledged. "So you don't have the uncontrollable power Sora does. You'll have to study your magic, like Donald does."

"But there's more than one way to study," Donald said. "That's why I'm not going to teach you alone."

An enormous pink flower appeared from nowhere, and bloomed, opening its petals to reveal a man of around Donald's height, with pale green feathers and a hooked beak. He wore a heavy gray robe and a large fez, and as he serenely stepped forward he took a draw on a cigar. He exhaled, producing concentric rings of crackling electricity.

On the other side of the throne room, a fireball dropped from the ceiling and exploded. From the burst emerged another figure, with a pointy beak and red feathers, wearing a wide-brimmed wizard's hat and a robe of garish rainbow colors. He was cackling uncontrollably as he tumbled toward Donald and the other new arrival.

"Years ago, when we finally set the worlds at peace from the dark seekers," Donald explained, "I left Disney Town's walls and sailed the seas of this world. That's how I met these two." He summoned his wizard staff, lifting it high into the air. "Donald Duck!" he declared.

The fez-wearer called up a slender dagger and held it backhand. "José Carioca!"

The third mage conjured two pistols and crossed them over his head. "Panchito Pistoles!"

"The Three Caballeros!" all three of them shouted in unison.

José flicked his wrist, leading his stiletto to dissipate, and stepped up to Skye. "We are all very different, the three of us," he said in an elegant and refined foreign accent. "But we are wise enough to know that the best way to learn about ourselves is from people who are different from ourselves."

"We all use very different magic," Panchito said, shooting a pair of fireballs upwards from his guns. "But what matters is that we are all like-minded _brujos_—our countries, they aren't so different." He repeated the exact same Fire spell. "Alone, each of us is mighty—"

"But together," Donald said, picking up the thread, "we're an unstoppable display of the ultimate arcana!"

"Donald!"

Donald flinched and lowered his staff. "Yes, dear?"

Daisy stalked into the throne room along with Queen Minnie. "These guys again?" Daisy demanded. "You spend so much time studying with your Three Cappuccinos that we never see each other anymore."

"I know, I'm sorry," Donald said automatically.

"Our apologies, my lady," José said, bowing deeply to her. "We did not mean to keep Donald from you."

"And a hearty greeting to the Queen!" Panchito added, grandly sweeping off his huge hat.

"_Buenos días_, boys," Minnie said cheerfully. "Now, haven't I told you before? No smoking and no firearms in the Castle."

"We only—"

"Of course, but—"

"Hand them over, boys," Minnie said gently. "You can have them back when you head back into town."

"Yes, Your Majesty," José said, putting out his cigar and handing it to her.

"_Gracias_, Your Majesty," Panchito said, surrendering his guns.

"Come along, Daisy," Minnie said, starting down the stairs toward the Cornerstone.

"All right," Daisy said. "Donald, please don't tell me you'll be blasting off in your Gummi ship before our anniversary."

"I won't, Daisy," Donald said. As soon as the two ladies disappeared down the staircase, Donald hissed, "Goofy, quick, when's my anniversary?"

Goofy shrugged. "Ahyuk, I dunno."

"Agh…" Donald sighed.

"It's in three days," José supplied.

"Thanks," Donald grumbled. "Now… where was I?"

"You're unstoppable," Skye said dryly.

"Right. That."

Webby giggled.

"Take it easy, apprentice," Donald said, smirking. "So, _compadres_, how do we teach the boy magic?"

José stroked his beak thoughtfully. "Nothing opens up the soul to new magic better than an exercise in quick thinking on your toes."

"Yes," Panchito said, delighted. "Exercising different methods that must come up at a moment's notice, _no_?"

Donald grinned mischievously. "Get the arena ready."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Before he had time to protest, Skye found himself at the bottom of a dark pit, lined with sword-wielding wheeled automatons, each of them one of the three primary colors.

Skye looked at the motionless dummies warily, and heard Donald's voice over the intercom. "Your job is to destroy these mechanical warriors."

Skye took a moment to decipher Donald's already barely-understandable voice being more muffled by the speakers. "Okay," he said, conjuring his Keyblade.

"_Without_ using your Keyblade," Donald clarified. "Just magic."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Skye called out.

"You better figure it out," said Panchito's voice, "because we're taking your Keyblade away."

Three beams came down from the ceiling, forcefully ripping Skye's Keyblade out of his hand.

"No!" Skye yelled as his Keyblade rose out of sight.

The dummies activated, and began to advance on Skye from all directions.

"Okay," he muttered to himself. "Magic only… Blizzard!"

The ice crystal burst from his hand. It went straight through one of the blue dummies, and battered the yellow one behind it.

"That's odd," Skye said, observing the undamaged blue dummy. "Fire!"

Both the blue and yellow figures cracked open and collapsed into dust.

Skye nibbled on this thumbnail thoughtfully, and experimentally cast Fire on one of the red automatons. Nothing happened. Skye called up a Barrier spell to deflect the red's attack, then gently stepped into a crowd of the dummies, allowing himself to be surrounded.

"I think I'm onto something," he muttered to himself. "Thunder!"

The surrounding figures were all zapped—the reds and blues were destroyed just as the first two were, while the yellow fighters slashed at him from different directions.

"That's what I thought," he said, side-stepping them with a quick Cure. "Color-coded dummies. Okay… Aero!"

The yellow dummies were thrown off-balance by the wind. "Fire!" Skye said triumphantly, holding both hands out in front of him.

And just like that, he was alone in the pit… until doors opened in the sides, and more of the same automatons burst out.

"More?" Skye demanded of the unseen people outside the pit. "Hmph, well, let's spice this up. Magnet—Thunder!" The two spells gathered all of the automatons over Skye's head, and promptly zapped them.

While the drones were tied up in the Magnet spell, Skye took a moment to pop out a bottle of Ether. The surviving drones dropped to the ground, and more started to appear from the hidden tunnels.

"Ah, come on, gimme a break," Skye snarled. "Gravity!" The oncoming dummies popped up into the air, but still more came wheeling out.

"Hmm… they won't stop," Skye said. He thought back to what the caballeros had told him. "Different _ways_ to use magic. Thinking on my toes… at a moment's notice. I get it; I bet you want me to do something innovative and unique. So when I say 'Fire'…" He set his hands ablaze and punched his way through the oncoming horde. Most of them recovered from the Gravity spell; Skye was ready for them.

"Blizzard!" he said. His head became coated in a sheet of ice, and he head-butted one of the warriors. "Yeah, let's do this… THUNDER!" He spun on his heel, and kept spinning and spinning and spinning until the electricity around his hands and feet had decimated every single one of the mechanical dummies.

He fell flat on his back, but was pleased to see he was completely alone. "Like a BOSS!" he congratulated himself. He found himself spirited back to the entrance hall, with the Three Caballeros and his two companions.

"Congratulations," Donald said. "Here's your diploma." He shoved a scrap of paper with the word '_diploma_' scrawled on it into Skye's hand.

"Aw, shucks," Skye said, grinning.

"Now get outta my castle," Donald said, pushing Skye's back toward the castle doors.

"Wha…?" Skye demanded.

"Head out into Disney Town," José suggested.

"There's so much to do, so much to see!" Panchito said happily.

The Caballeros shoved Skye, Max, and Webby out the doors. "Wait, wait!" Skye said, clinging to the door frame. "My Keyblade!"

"Oh, right," Donald said. "Here!" The three wizards held up their hands, and Wide Open Space floated back into Skye's grasp.

"How did you guys _do_ that?" Skye demanded.

"We're three high-powered magicians of the highest caliber," Donald said, running his hand over his wizard cap. "If we were anything less, there's no way we could have done that."

"It's difficult, very very difficult," Panchito said, "to separate a Keyblade from its wielder. But it _does_ happen."

"Yeah," José agreed. "Never hurts to be prepared."

"We'll see you around," Donald said, shutting the castle doors in their faces.

"Well, that was abrupt," Skye said irritably.

"They have Midghost problems to work on," Max said. "We're not exactly helping the research just sitting around the castle. Come on, me and Webby will show you around town."


	17. True Companions

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

You know what I'm hoping for? I'm hoping that for the rest of the series, even if Hayden Panettiere is available to play Kairi, Alyson Stoner should play Xion. Yes, they're supposed to sound the same. But Hayden played Xion in _BbS_ and _3D_, and the implication, that they're kicking out Alyson, kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. Alyson's performance is the reason we all fell in love with Xion in the first place. If all of Xion's scenes in _Days_ get re-dubbed by Hayden for the _1.5_ theater thing, that'll be a big disappointment. For that feature, they simply must bring Alyson back. Don't get me wrong, Hayden _is_ Kairi, and always will be. But Alyson _is_ Xion.

Also, considering Christopher Lee probably won't be returning to the series anytime soon, they really ought to re-cast DiZ/Ansem with someone cooler than Corey Burton. Please. I mean, I like Corey Burton and everything, they call him the crown prince of voice acting for a reason, but all the extremely deep-voiced characters they keep giving him in this series (DiZ/Ansem, Yen Sid, the Magic Mirror, and most recently Frollo) just make him sound like an amateur, which he obviously isn't.

**True Companions**

Max led Skye through the streets of Disney Town; Webby tagged along behind them. "There's Fruitball Plaza," Max said, pointing. "Shouldn't be too crowded this time of year. And there are insane amounts of ice cream around here."

Skye shifted impatiently. "Max, I get the feeling that Sora wants us to keep training until we go."

"Yeah, training, I'll get right to that," Max said dismissively. "You like racecars?"

"Max."

"Okay, okay…" Max said, lifting his hands defensively. "Let's see."

Two figures jumped out from concealment and jumped upon Max, hoisting him onto their shoulders. Both were furry and vaguely canine, much like Max, and wore padded and many-belted uniforms similar to his. One was tan-furred with very short blond hair, spinning a pair of scimitars in one hand, and wore round, tinted goggles over his eyes. The other was rotund and mostly black-furred, with pointy ears and wielding a heavy hammer.

"Maximum!" the blond youth crowed.

"Max, you didn't come home, man," the chubby one said with concern. "What's up?"

"Sorry, I'm a man on a mission," Max said, sliding out of their grip and back to the ground. "Skye, these are my bros—PJ Pete and Bobby Zimmeruski. Peej, Bob, meet Skye."

The tall and lanky Bobby peered at Skye over his lowered shades. "So, you're the guy who's been dragging Max off on an adventure—WITHOUT US!" he bellowed.

Skye shrugged. "Sorry, Bobby. Wasn't my idea."

PJ clapped a hand on Max's shoulder. "What have you seen?" he asked. "What are the other worlds like?"

"Fantastic," Max said reverently. "It's like everywhere we turn, there's more stuff to marvel at. Stuff to fight, new people to meet, treasure! Plus, going about my business without my dad lurking over my shoulder every minute of the day—"

"Hey!" PJ said darkly, stepping away from Max. "I've warned you guys before, no complaining about dads."

"Right, right, sorry…" Max said hastily.

"Don't make me smack you with my hammer again," PJ warned, lifting it.

"Perish the thought," Max said. He turned toward Skye and explained, "PJ's dad… maybe you've heard of Mr. Pete? No? Well, he works for Maleficent, has since before Peej was born."

"Maleficent?" Skye repeated quietly. "The evil fairy queen?"

"Yup," PJ said bitterly.

"Why would he do that?" Skye wondered.

"'Cause he's a villain, with noplace else to go," PJ muttered. "A better question is why _she_ keeps _him_ around. I've never met him, but I hear he's a complete incompetent."

Bobby crossed his scimitars behind his head and drummed his fingers on their hilts. "Last I heard," he said, "they've just finished givin' the old Castle That Never Was a refurbishment. Maybe that means Maleficent's operation is back up and running, eh buddy?"

Everyone turned cautiously toward PJ to see how he would react. He didn't.

"If we see your dad out in the worlds, we'll let you know," Max said gently.

"Thanks," PJ replied. "So… there's trouble out there in the worlds, right? As guards, what should we be on our guard for?"

"Come on, nothing ever happens in Disney Town," Max scoffed. "The royal guards are just there for décor. But I know what you mean. Webby, show 'em a Midghost."

Webby called up an illusion of the gray-cloaked monster.

Bobby tilted his head to the side. "That don't look so scary…"

"Show them what happens when you hit them," Max said solemnly.

Webby covered her eyes, but complied. Blood started gushing from the illusory Midghost's wounds.

"Whoa," PJ gasped. "Y… yikes! There's bleeding, and there's just plain showing off…"

Skye straightened up in surprise. "Weird, that's _exactly_ what Max said when he saw them bleed."

"Well, that's the thing about true friends," Max said, wrapping his arms around PJ and Bobby. "Your hearts sync up, you start to think alike."

"Aw, how cute," said a drawling, snooty voice.

Another doglike fellow stalked up to them. He had light brown fur and neat, dark brown hair, and was dressed in a long black coat. Three blue wings dangled from the outfit, and over his shoulder he carried a slender sword which was nearly twice his height.

"Hello, Brad," Max said coldly.

"If it isn't Baby Goof, back from his little fairytale adventure," the sword-wielder said.

"You obviously don't know what you're talking about," Max said smugly. "But what's with the outfit—wings? A huge sword?"

Bobby started singing in a high, off-key pitch. "_Noli manere, manere in memoria__—BRAD!_" he shrugged. "Doesn't sound right."

Brad stepped toward Bobby and glared at him. "Don't. Call. Me. Brad," he enunciated through gritted teeth.

"Sure thing, Brad," Max said dismissively. "But again, when did you start wearing the Sephiroth outfit? A big neon sign on your forehead that says 'Bad Guy' not to your taste? Why not just walk around in a in a full-body Chernabog costume?"

"Too expensive," Brad said promptly. "Plus, confining." He stepped up to Skye. "Hey, name's Bradley. I'm kind of the big star of the king's guardsmen. These guys have to salute when I pass." He held out his hand to shake.

"Skye," Skye replied coldly, leaving him hanging.

"Skye…" Bradley muttered, lifting his outstretched hand to scratch his ear. "Well, hey, listen, if you're heading out into the worlds again, I assume you're gonna want a better front-line fighter than Baby Goof here. I'd be happy to volunteer." He spread out his arms, presenting himself. "Ah?"

"No," Skye said simply. "Max has earned my trust and my friendship. Whereas you, you appear to be what we Keyblade wielders like to call a 'jerk'."

Bradley's lips thinned. "Hmmm… You gonna be like that? Fine…" He drew his sword and pointed it at Skye's chest. "Be like that. Maybe this'll change your mind."

Max lifted his lance and pushed downward on Brad's sword. "Easy, Brad," he said. "Think this over. You attack Skye, I'm obliged to defend him. Disney soldiers fighting each other? That's a major breach of protocol. Now, my dad, he likes you, but if he finds out you started a brawl, well… your fate is in his hands, bro. Always."

Bradley glared. "I see what you're saying," he said. "You'd like us to settle this like gentlemen."

"Yeah," Max said, pleased. "Once around the catacombs?"

"I win, you quit the Key-boy's party and come be my personal toady," Bradley suggested.

"I win," Max countered, "you turn down the promotion that my dad has in line for you."

"I'm getting promoted?" Bradley said in surprise.

"Not if I win."

"Done," Bradley said, shaking Max's hand. "Let's do it."

"Yeah," Max said.

"Yeah," Bradley agreed.

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"OKAY!" Skye interjected heavily. "What are we doing here?"

Max tapped his back. "Come on, I'll show you."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Skye read the banner above the broad, loose-dirt racetrack. "'Disney Town Rumble Racing X-Games'?" he asked.

"It's pronounced 'Key-Games', actually," Max said. "'X-Games' is trademarked."

"Ah."

"How are you on in-line skates?" Max asked. "Or a bike?"

Skye shrugged. "I'm okay."

"Yeah? How about a skateboard?"

"I'm amazing," Skye admitted.

"Good," Max said. "It's the five of us against Bradley and whoever he gets for his team. We've gotta win this, you know."

"Well, yeah," Skye snorted. "Why, why, WHY would you accept that wager? We kind of need you, man."

"I know," Max said. "Stupid and reckless, right? We'll have to pull out all the stops, I guess."

They joined PJ, Bobby, and Webby, who were strapping on knee and elbow pads. Bobby placed a Spartan-style helmet over his head, mounted with a tall bright-red brush.

Bradley approached, accompanied by four of the enchanted brooms, who wore brightly-colored pads on what passed for their knees and elbows.

Max smirked at the brooms. "Oh, come on, Brad, don't you have any _real_ friends?"

"It's Bradley," he snarled. "Bradley! And are we gonna do this or what?"

All of them stood behind the starting line, each strapping on a pair of in-line skates.

"Usual rules apply," Max said. "All weapons and magic permitted. And no destroying the entire arena this time!"

"Oh, shut up," Brad snarled. "Let's go!"

Bradley's skates ignited, and he took off at an unbelievably high speed.

"Rocket skates?" Max exclaimed. "Cheating dork—COME ON!"

Skye, Max, and their team kicked up their own speed, blasting down Disney Town's Main Street. Max pulled out his lance to trip up one of the brooms. Around a sharp turn, another broom hit a building hard, as did Bobby.

"Keep going, dudes!" Bobby called out. Skye nodded and took him at his word.

The road began to decline, and soon the racers found themselves in a dark, blue-tinted tunnel. Squinting, Skye could see Bradley and his two remaining brooms removing their skates and clambering onto bicycles.

Max decelerated, getting just behind PJ, and prodded him forward with the butt of his lance. Skye followed suit, batting at PJ with his Keyblade. The Keyblade's energy threw PJ clean out of his skates, and taking to the air in a smooth arc, PJ was the first to reach the bicycles, landing flawlessly on the seat, and picking up speed.

"Peej is the best on the bikes," Max said. "He'll gain on Brad in no time."

"Well, let's not make him do it alone," Skye said, kicking off his skates and taking up his own bike.

On the downhill grade, PJ easily caught up to Bradley, hitting his front wheel with his hammer, causing Bradley to swerve and scrape a wall. PJ brushed past the two brooms who were still standing and entered a commanding lead.

"Hey, BRAAAAAAAD!" Max called. He made to jab at Bradley with his lance as he passed by, but Brad deflected with his ridiculously long sword, pushing away from the wall and flinging himself bodily against Max, bike and all.

Max and Bradley, along with their weapons, strained against each other as they continued down the slope. The struggle slowed them down, and Skye passed them, along with Webby on her little pink tricycle.

"Fire," Webby whispered. A fireball hurled itself at the nearest enchanted broom, blasting it and causing it to flip over its handlebars.

"This is a dirty game," Skye commented. "A filthy, underhanded game." He shrugged. "No better kind!"

The tunnel switched from blue to gray at the very moment it started going uphill. Skye kicked into high gear, pedaling frantically. He overtook the lone remaining broom and came level with PJ.

"We're in charge," he informed the exhausted soldier. "We've got this race in the bag!"

"Aw, don't say that," PJ whined. "You've just jinxed us…"

The last broom slammed into Skye, then into PJ, unbalancing them both. Over his shoulder, Skye noticed Max and Bradley still locked together in furious combat, barely crawling up the inclined tunnel.

Up ahead, the broom hopped off of its bicycle and took up a skateboard… then dropped out of sight. Skye braked his bike and jumped off, stepping up to a waiting skateboard.

This portion of the tunnel was the top of an immense skateboard ramp, plummeting down and down and down.

"Oh… oh my…" Webby squeaked.

"Come on, it's just heights," Skye said optimistically, peering at the broom skating off into the distance. "Nothing we can't handle."

Something struck Skye in the small of his back, and he dropped to his knees. Max and Bradley, scuffling and grappling with each other, rolled over him and tumbled, along with a few jostled boards, down the huge ramp.

"Whoa!" Skye gasped. Without hesitation, he hopped on a skateboard and coasted down the ramp. "Are you guys okay?" he said frantically.

Max and Brad didn't answer, but continued to seethe and glare at each other. They hopped upon two of the fallen skateboards and took off down the tunnel, neck-and-neck.

Brad held his sword up against the wall, scraping and slicing through, sending chunks of stone and brick hurling onto the racetrack, slowing Max's progress. Max snarled and jumped, smashing his board against Brad's neck.

The long sword scraped against the ceiling, sending cracks running through the stonework. A huge stone dropped from the roof of the tunnel, crushing the lone remaining broom on Brad's team.

Light was visible at the end of the tunnel. Bradley and Max made a mad dash.

They emerged into the sunlight, to a circuit of track that ran around Disney Castle's towers and parapets. A small crowd had gathered, expecting them, and gasping at their furious charge.

Max grinded on a stone wall, then whirled around a spire, Bradley hot on his heels. They flew into the air, bouncing off each other with their thrusts, slashes, and parries, flying higher into the air with each clash, the wind from their spinning and whirling attacks blowing shards off of the building.

Skye stopped skating to stand there and gape at them as they carried on, soon tossing their weapons and boards aside, punching and kicking at each other as they tumbled.

Desperate to see what would happen, Skye boarded toward the finish line. Max and Bradley hit the soft dirt surface of the track, near the point where they started. Max got to his feet first and skipped happily across the finish line.

"BAM!" he roared. "Have fun staying a lowly infantryman, Brad!"

Brad stood up, his eye twitching. "We're not done, Baby Goof," he said. "When you least expect it… gonna take you down."

Bradley disappeared into the crowd. Skye and Webby ran to Max's side.

A canine girl stepped out of the crowd and walked toward Max. She had cream-colored fur and thick red hair, and wore a tiara and teal gown. "Hi, Max," she said, smirking.

"Roxanne!" Max said jubilantly. "Hey… enjoy the show?"

"Yeah," Roxanne said facetiously. "All those moves? That was really… reeeeally… unnecessary."

"Eh, just showing off for the tourists," Max said, gesturing absently at Skye. "How've you enjoyed working for the queen?"

"It's the best!" Roxanne breathed. "Oh my God, dream job. I never thought I could learn more about our kingdom—or the power of light!"

"That's so cool," Max said. "I miss you when I go out there in the worlds."

"Me too, but I've been putting my spare time to good use!" Roxanne said brightly. "I've been exploring, finding places in the castle where I'm reasonably sure no one can find me and interrupt me…"

A very Goofy-like laugh escaped Max's lips. Roxanne smiled, apparently finding it charming.

"Do you have some time to come scope out the place with me?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're not taking off until… tomorrow…" Max said absently, taken aback by Roxanne's hands suddenly wrapped tenderly around his neck. "Roxanne, what's going on?"

"I like you, Max," she said, shrugging. "And it's good to have you back. Is that a problem?"

"No, no," Max said quickly. "Not a problem at all. Let's go see this hiding place of yours." He turned to Skye and Webby. "Sorry, guys, not to ditch the team, but there's a lady-in-waiting who is, uh…"

"Waiting?" Skye supplied.

"Yeah, waiting. For me. See ya."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

I found that the end of this chapter imposed a challenge upon me: to write a scene of Max and Roxanne reuniting and sneaking some private time, _without_ implying that they're having sex. As you can see, it's a test that I failed. For the record, they're not. But I have to tell you that, so, yeah… writing failure.

Then again, I'm patting myself on the back over the "really unnecessary" line. Roxanne wasn't in the second _Goofy Movie_, so there's no way of knowing for sure how she'd react to that film's extreme-sports plot. So I had to improvise… and Roxanne's dialogue in this chapter and the next, I'm actually pretty proud of it. Hopefully I'm breaking through the "generic girlfriend" image that it's so easy to place upon her…


	18. Enigmatic Youths

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Okay, shorter rant here than the previous couple of chapters. Here's the thing: I like the Muppets. And as I understand it, most people like the Muppets. I'm wondering, where _are_ all these people? Everyone I know personally? Hates them. I have friends who share most of my interests, but I have no one to talk to about Muppets. Isn't that sad?

**Enigmatic Youths**

The next morning, Skye was awakened promptly by the sunrise. He rolled out of the bed he'd been given and hopped to his feet. He pulled out the little map Sora had given him.

"All right," he said confidently. "Let's do it. Max!"

In the bed on the other side of the room, Max promptly sat up. "Yeah?"

Skye stuffed the map back into his pocket. "You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Max said, leaping out. "Let's go!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Max and Webby starting prepping their Gummi pods, opening the bubble-tops and preparing to step in. Skye transformed his blade into his Keyblade Glider, pausing for a moment to admire it.

"Maxy!"

Goofy came running into the Gummi hangar.

"Oh, hey Dad," Max said, walking over to him.

Goofy hugged his son, then held him out at arm's length with an uncharacteristically serious face. "I forgot to warn ya, Max—the Phantom Blot got away."

"He did?" Max breathed.

"Yeah, he's out there somewhere," Goofy said. "But son, do _not_ go lookin' for him, you hear me? He's just as powerful as any Keyblade Master, and a lot meaner. If you three see him, don't engage. Ya can't take him."

Max nodded. "Okay… not that I'm looking for trouble, but what if _he_ engages _us_, what then? What if we're cornered?"

Goofy hunched his shoulders, then sighed. "Well, gawrsh, then you fight the good fight, boy."

"Okay," Max said, grinning and patting his dad's back.

Goofy backed away and held his hand to his brow in a salute. "Get out there and make me proud, soldier! Ahyuk."

Max saluted him back. "Yes, sir… ahyuk."

Roxanne came into the hangar and swooped in on Max with a hug. "Goodbye, Max."

"Bye, Roxie," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Come home soon," Roxanne said quietly. She stood on tiptoe and whispered something in Max's ear, and he _ahyukked_ again.

Skye's body glowed with white light, and when it faded he was contained in his Keyblade Armor. He plopped into the firm but comfortable seat of his glider, and gripped its handlebars.

"Let's fly," he said. He blasted out the circular hole in the wall, followed closely by Max and Webby's pods.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Hey, Max," said Skye.

"Yeah?"

Skye looked over his shoulder at Max, who was staring off into the nothingness and grinning broadly. "You know those things don't _actually_ run on happy faces, right?"

Max broke out laughing. "Ha ha! Yeah, I just can't stop smiling. Ah, Roxanne. We're going on four years now, you know that?"

"That's awesome, dude," Skye said. "Hmm… who do you suppose that is?"

He pointed to a figure travelling a path parallel to theirs—a short but lanky person dressed in a burgundy suit trimmed with white, who appeared to simply be riding a bicycle through the Lanes Between.

"Oh, I know!" Webby said. "That's Master Kermit!"

"Is it?" Skye said. "He's out looking for the source of the Midghosts, right? That's what the King and Master Riku said. Maybe he's found something out." He removed his helmet to appear more approachable, and banked to the side to intercept the traveler. "Hey, Master Kermit! Master Kermit, sir!"

"Hmm?" The gangly Keyblade Master had green skin, a pointy face, and bulgy eyes with strangely-shaped pupils.

"Hi… my name's Skye," he said. "I just signed on as Master Sora's apprentice."

"Oh, that's right," Master Kermit said. "I've heard about you. How's it going?"

"Good, good," Skye said absently. "Um… Master, shouldn't you be wearing armor?"

"Oh, I'm not concerned about the darkness in the Lanes Between," Kermit said, shrugging. "It's just darkness. Got my heart, got my Keyblade, got my team, that's protection enough." Kermit raised his hand and displayed his famous weapon, the Rainbow Connection: its body modeled after a long and crooked brown log and its cutting blade a rainbow. "Plus, without armor, I'm more attuned to surrounding vibrations."

A bright red bus with various designs along both sides came jetting through the lanes and came up alongside Kermit. A fellow with dark green skin, a red beard, and a floppy purple top hat poked his head out of the driver's side window.

"Hey, green stuff," he said in a deep and gravelly voice. "Thought we was in a hurry." His perpetual grin showed off a golden tooth.

"One minute, Dr. Teeth," Kermit said. "I'm talking to Sora's apprentice. Skye, this is Dr. Teeth. The Electric Mayhem are backing me up in this investigation."

"Electric Mayhem?" Skye said curiously.

A hairy, red, beastly creature jumped out of the space bus's window and lunged at Skye with a mighty roar. He was prevented from reaching Skye when the chain around his neck went taut, and was soon being reeled in by a pink-skinned, red-mustached man wearing round sunglasses.

"No, Animal, no!" he said as he tugged on the chain. "Friend! Friend!"

"Friend?" Animal said in a guttural voice.

"Yeah… Kermit, we gotta get someplace with gravity real quick, man. Animal needs his exercise."

"Okay, Floyd," Kermit said reassuringly. He turned back to Skye. "Sorry about that. Anyway, Skye—I don't recommend going without armor until you make Master, but it can be quite eye-opening."

"Um—oh. Okay," Skye said, distracted. "So, uh, who are the guys in the bus, now?"

"The Electric Mayhem," Kermit said. "They're my house band. They use their rock and roll to cast somewhat untraditional magic. You know… everyone needs backup. You've met Dr. Teeth, and Floyd, and Animal…"

"BEAT DRUMS!" Animal roared. "MAGNEGA! MAGNEGA!"

"And I'm, like, Janice, on lead guitar, fer sure," said a woman with orange skin, long blond hair, and sleepy eyes.

From the back window of the van, a man with blue skin and long, darker blue hair, wearing a bucket hat and reflective sunglasses, sleepily joined the others in poking out his head. "And I'm… I'm uh… uh…"

"Zoot," Floyd supplied. "You're Zoot. Heh heh." He turned to look at Skye. "So, hey dude, aren't you a little short to be a Keyblade wielder?"

"Oh, don't listen to him," Kermit said as Skye scowled. "All the best Masters are short. Me, Mickey, André. You know, Sora used to wear elevator shoes until I talked him out of it."

"Really?" Skye said, surprised.

"Oh yeah," Kermit said, nodding. "So, now you know my team. Who's that with you?"

"Max and Webby," Skye said. The two in their Gummi pods flew forward.

"Goofy's son and Donald's niece?" Kermit said, surprised. "Well, this is a party no one wants to see get hurt. If there's anything I can do to help you…"

Skye shrugged. "Just tell me what you've learned about the Midghosts."

"Not much more than you," Kermit admitted. "They're silent, they claw at you, breathe on you, imitate your eyes. They bleed like the dickens and leave very cold and messy bodies. And they're everywhere."

"Everywhere?" Skye said, just to make sure.

"Yeah," Kermit said. "Is there anything else I can offer?"

"No, we're good," Skye said, dejected. "Keep doing what you guys were doing."

"All right," Kermit said. "We'll meet up again when we have more knowledge to share."

"Bye, tiny Keyblade dude!" Floyd yelled, as the bike and the van took off into the distance.

"They're 'everywhere'," Skye grumbled. "If they're so everywhere, why can't we find any?"

"Oh, that's easy," said a voice. "We've told them to avoid you."

A black-haired boy in a snappy suit came flying unpropelled alongside Skye. A pink-eyed girl with fluffy gray hair appeared in front of him and floated, as motionless as if she was standing on solid ground.

"Wha—who are you guys?" Skye demanded.

Xefrii and Ciexu ignored the question. Xefrii floated around Skye's glider. "The Midghosts can smell your type a mile away," he said. "And while, yeah, we're actively looking for your type, we can't rely on the gray guys to capture you. A sort of blood frenzy kicks in around the Keyblade, see. They'd go crazy, only go in straight for the kill. So our orders to them are, when they smell one of you, give you a wide berth. Like, a mile. That way, we don't have to worry about you getting slaughtered."

"It's not perfect," Ciexu said tonelessly. "They don't always listen. The two you fought outside the Old North Church, they had to be punished."

Skye snorted. "The biggest punishment of all. We killed them."

"Mmm, kind of," Xefrii said. "You… kind of killed them."

Skye changed his glider back into the Keyblade. He held it out as he free-floated in space. "So you guys command the Midghosts. That's the best news I've heard all week. I'm gonna take you guys to my Master."

He suddenly felt the pull of gravity, and fell, landing on a glassy, reflective black surface. Max and Webby's ships followed, and the two quickly hopped out to rush to Skye's side.

Ciexu drifted slowly to the mysterious platform, which extended in a huge circle in all directions before giving way to the normal Lanes; Xefrii followed suit, but didn't touch the ground.

"Unlikely," Ciexu said. She turned toward her companion. "Take him."

"Yes, ma'am!" Xefrii said cheerfully.

Xefrii snapped his fingers, and a tiny triangle made of fire appeared behind Skye's head. Skye felt the heat and rolled to the side just before the tiny triangle erupted into a huge, flaming pyramid.

Lifting his head, Skye saw Ciexu staring him down. She teleported far out of his reach. Skye swung his Keyblade in an arc, anticipating where Xefrii was, and batted the boy out of the air. Xefrii got to his feet, but Skye slammed him with the Keyblade a second time before he could take to the air.

Huge, flying and spinning ice crystals began to appear all around. Max and Webby dodged and deflected them, as the chunks of ice attempted attacking them but ignored Skye.

Max vaulted off one of the ice chunks to jump at Xefrii. A little wall of fire appeared on Xefrii's flank like a shield, but it was ineffective—Max sliced through the shield and nicked Xefrii. Both of them went tumbling to the ground, and Skye plowed over Xefrii in a full-body tackle.

Ciexu materialized behind Max. He was immediately aware of her and spun around, diving on her. She vanished immediately, and Max swung too wide, falling off-balance. Max found himself pelted mercilessly with shards of ice; he danced around it and tried to find his way back to Ciexu; even though she wasn't moving, it was pretty obvious she was the source of these ice attacks.

Skye went through a series of jabs and lunges at Xefrii, who deflected them with little round fire shields on his hands. Pushing Skye away, Xefrii took to the air again.

Max rushed Ciexu with his lance held aloft, with Webby on his heels. "Thundara!" Webby squeaked.

The lightning bolt hit a huge ice crystal instead of Ciexu, who then motionlessly set the crystal in motion to smash into Max and Webby, knocking them off their feet. Ciexu teleported to Skye, and called up another ice block to slam Skye's diaphragm and send him flying into the air. She vanished again before Skye even hit the ground.

Xefrii hovered in front of Skye, and with a wave of his hands conjured two huge sheets of flame. He clapped his hands together, and the two flames likewise crashed into each other. Skye would have been caught between the flames if he hadn't jumped backward. Max came up behind Xefrii, whose fire shield popped up behind his back. Max's lance pierced the shield and struck true.

"Fira!" Webby said, conjuring little orbs of fire all over the battlefield, which shot tiny laser beams at Ciexu. By teleporting from place to place, the girl dodged every single one without moving a muscle.

"LIGHT!" Skye declared, stabbing his Keyblade into the glassy surface. A pillar of light erupted from beneath Ciexu's feet and enveloped her. When it faded, she appeared to be unfazed.

Max and Xefrii were tangled together, grappling, Max's lance clashing with Xefrii's solid fire. Xefrii threw his hands up over his head and made a slashing motion with them, conjuring up a giant fireball. Max jumped straight up, clearing the blast flawlessly.

Skye came in from Xefrii's other side. "Blizzara-Blizzara-Blizzara," he whispered. The three ice shards hit Xefrii solidly.

Alone and alert, holding her magic crystal aloft, Webby looked around for Ciexu. She never saw the enemy, but a massive glacier appeared above Webby's head and smashed her.

"Webby!" Skye cried out. In his second of hesitation, he found himself hit by Xefrii's clapping fire attack. It brought him to his knees, and his breath came in rattling, heaving gasps.

An icy, disembodies claw picked Webby up and rushing her toward the edge of the round, black platform. It then became clear that the platform was surrounded by a wall of the same reflective substance as the floor: the hand slammed Webby against this wall and held her there. Ciexu smiled and conjured an enormous icy pillar. It swung like a baseball bat held by a huge invisible player, and smashed into Webby, who slid down the wall and slumped, broken.

Ciexu turned around and smirked evilly at Skye.

Skye roared with fury and delivered unto Xefrii the hardest beatdown he had ever given. The Keyblade chopped Xefrii's side, sending him flying. Skye jumped and slashed downward, putting Xefrii on a collision with the floor. Not finished with him, Skye slipped his blade under Xefrii's back, and used it as a lever to fling the stranger back into the air. He jumped once again, and shrouded his Keyblade in ice, stabbing Xefrii in the stomach.

Frantic, Xefrii held out a hand to blast Skye with a jet of flame. Skye dodged, and rammed Xefrii with his shoulder before pounding him back to the ground. For a third time, Xefrii created two sheets of fire and clapped his hands, but Skye flipped through the air and was barely singed.

"Hrmm… Fira!" Skye said, still in the air. His mighty fireball caught Ciexu cleanly in the face. As he began his downward arc, he focused his attention back to Xefrii. The next clapping attack hit cleanly; Skye shrugged it off and cast Blizzara, knocking an ice crystal into Xefrii's shin.

Ciexu was now targeting Max with her huge icy pillar, knocking him off his feet. As soon as Max stood up, she did it again. Skye used another pillar of light, but this one missed by a long shot. More glaciers appeared in the air and crashed into the ground, one by one. Max dodged the first one, but the second hit its mark. Max was downed. An icy claw lifted Max up and dropped his prone form next to that of Webby.

Skye charged at Ciexu, Keyblade held high, but Xefrii's next fiery clap caught him hard. He collapsed.

Xefrii floated down to Ciexu's side. "Well, that went well," he said. "So… I assume we take Mr. Last here back to HQ, and his buddies—we 'off' them, right? Right?"

Ciexu was silent.

"Of course we do, of course we do," Xefrii said cheerfully, floating toward Skye.

Barely conscious, Skye managed to hoarsely whisper, "Aerora."

A tiny green whirlwind appeared in Xefrii's path. When the boy touched it, the spell activated and expanded, carrying Xefrii's body in continuous circles.

"Whooooooaaa!" Xefrii yelled. "You tricky little…"

Skye lunged out and grabbed Xefrii and Ciexu by their ankles. His eyes glowed an intense, bright blue. "Feel the storm!" he rasped.

Rain and lightning blasted the two strangers, followed by more wind.

"And he makes a full recovery!" Xefrii roared. "EPIC!"

Shuddering, the two of them vanished.

"Oh, you're good," came Ciexu's voice from no apparent direction. "You're very, very good…"

The mirrored surface vanished, and the three companions were once more floating through space. Max and Webby reached for their Gummi pods and clambered in, closing the bubble tops. Skye replaced his helmet—he had fought this entire battle in nearly full armor—and called up his glider again.

"What _was_ that?" Skye said incredulously.

"Who knows, but I could use a potion," Max said. He uncorked one and splashed it all over his face, lapping up some of it.

"What do we do now, Skye?" Webby asked.

Skye pulled out Master Sora's tiny map. "Proceed according to plan," he said. "Three worlds, then Destiny Islands. Those are our orders."

"But they said they're keeping the Midghosts away from you," Max said. "Something about catching you alive, I guess?"

"I guess," Skye said. "But Master Sora said he probably wouldn't be back at the Islands for a couple of days. We're just killing time until then… and we have a couple more reasons; we were assigned to these worlds because no one else is checking them, they might need our help—at the very least, we'll be keeping the Midghosts away from populated areas, if they really do stay at least a mile away from me. Most importantly, like the King said, seeing new worlds is always worth the experience."

"Allright, I guess you've convinced me," Max said, shrugging.

"Okay," Skye said, trying to sound confident. "Let's go… and stuff."


	19. So It Begins

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Okay, I've been looking forward to this part for a while. The Brotherhood's schemes actually start to happen, and everything starts to tie together. This next bunch of worlds are what I've been looking forward to since I started the story… seventeen months ago. Unbelievable.

Ah, well. The next world I've prepared, one of a few that are almost certain to appear in _Kingdom Hearts III_, will be the one based on _Rapunzel_. Yes, I know the title of the movie isn't actually _Rapunzel_, but given that _Tangled_ is a stupid-ass title, I have elected to ignore it.

_Avengers_ reference FTW! Which brings up the obvious question: with Disney's recent acquisition of Marvel and Lucasfilm, do I want material from those companies to appear in _Kingdom Hearts _games? The answer is, hell no. For the love of God, no. It's great and all, but it's just not Disneyesque. Pixar, yes. Muppets, yes. But _Avengers_ and _Star Wars_? In _Kingdom Hearts_? I'll throw my shoe at the wall when that happens… which it probably will… grumble grumble grumble…

**So It Begins**

Xefrii and Ciexu spirited themselves back to the gathering place of the Brotherhood. Their fellows were still watching Skye's progress through space in the scrying pool.

"That was awesome," Chick commented. "But why'd you run off? Even with that funky finisher he pulled, it looked like you still had him."

"Oh, we had our reasons for letting him go," Xefrii said. "I figure we weren't really gonna capture him, just shake him up a bit, give him a bit of incentive to sleep with one eye open and maybe work on some of his powers, know what I'm saying?"

Dominique Destine smirked at Xefrii. "So, you don't _know_ why you let him go."

"Ex-_cuse_ me?" Xefrii said, raising his eyebrows.

"She doesn't tell you anything, does she?" Destine said, indicating Ciexu.

"She tells me stuff," Xefrii grumbled. "She told me, for example, the details of the Brotherhood's first genuine mission. Gothel!"

Mother Gothel interlaced her fingers and leaned toward him. Her face was more lined, and her hair grayer, than they had been just a few hours earlier. "Yes?"

"Mmkay, you know that artifact of light you've been hoarding for however many years?" Xefrii said. "You're gonna go get it, and bring it to us, so that all of the Brotherhood may access its powers."

Gothel's lip thinned. "I'm not much for sharing my… special gift. I've put a lot of effort into keeping it safe."

"Understood," Xefrii said. "Except that… well, seeing as you joined the Brotherhood, I'm assuming you actually _want_ some sort of power, am I right? Part of power is participating with the rest of us, you know."

She licked her lips anxiously. "If I bring my gift before you, you _will_ give me the power you've promised?"

"We will indeed. Power enough to rule over a world of your own, if you'd be so inclined to think bigger than your usual M.O."

"All right," Gothel said. "Done. Shall I return to my world now, and bring it forward?"

Xefrii smirked and nodded. "Yes, please do. Dr. Facilier will go along with you as backup."

"I don't need backup," Gothel snapped.

"Yeah, that's what they all say," Xefrii said smugly. "Then the Keyblade kid and his buddies burst in on you and kill you easily because it's three-on-one. Four if they've picked up some sort of 'hero' on your world… which they usually do. So, yeah, Facilier's going with you to keep you safe." He beamed sarcastically. "Don't worry, he won't interfere with your business—he'll just be keeping an eye on you in a supervisory capacity. Think for a second, we gotta look after each other, 'kay? In fact, just to be extra-safe, we're not splitting our Brotherhood into anything less than half. Both of you, pick a companion."

The Phantom Blot raised his hand. "Ooh! Madam Gothel, may I…? Your comments about this 'artifact' have intrigued me."

"Hmph," Gothel said, smirking. "Very well, since Mr. Blot has shown an interest, he'll be my companion."

"Good—Randy, you're with me," Facilier said.

Randall was reclined on a lawn chair, wearing sunglasses and basking in the merciless Keyblade Graveyard sun. He lifted his head and lowered his glasses. "Yeah, okay," he said, hauling himself up.

Gothel conjured up a Corridor of Darkness, and the four of them stepped through.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Skye, Max, and Webby set down on a dry riverbed. Ahead of them was a massive wooden dam. Many man-sized tunnels lined the walls.

Skye took note of two wanted posters pinned to a wooden beam: one for Flynn Rider, a smirking man with a goatee and luxurious hairstyle, the other for the Stabbington brothers, two thug-faced men, identical but for the placement of their rather nasty facial scars, and that one had sideburns and the other an eyepatch. The poster labeled all three of them thieves.

"Hey guys," he said. "What do you suppose…?"

He trailed off as two huge, red-haired men burst out of one of the tunnels—Skye quickly recognized them as the Stabbington brothers.

The large thugs noticed the trio and grimaced. One drew a sword from a scabbard across his back, the other a saber from his hip. Skye sighed and conjured his Keyblade.

The brothers hesitated. "Hmm…" the one with sideburns muttered. "The Keyblade. Now that's powerful and dangerous. Listen, you don't wanna get involved with us, do you?"

"Oh, no, I'm good," Skye said.

Max raised an eyebrow.

"That rainstorm thingy really took a lot out of me," Skye whispered. "I don't think I can take 'em."

Max nodded, concerned. "Yeah, okay."

"So, can we just go?" the sword-wielder went on. "Couple of petty thieves looking for revenge on another petty thief… that's more a problem for the palace guard, not for a world-hopping defender of the light, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure," Skye said. "Not really my problem. See you later."

The Stabbington brothers nodded cordially and walked past the trio. Relieved, Skye stepped forward to inspect the huge dam.

"Then again," the same brother murmured.

"There it is," Skye said, exasperated.

"I wonder… if we defeat the Keyblade, we get to wield it ourselves, don't we? Isn't that how it works?"

"Something like that, maybe," Skye muttered wearily.

"We don't need the crown if we have the Keyblade," the Stabbington brother said, smirking devilishly. "We could steal the entire _castle_ if we had that kind of power." He and his silent, eyepatch-wearing brother brought their swords to bear once again.

"All right, let's get this over with," Skye said, stepping forward.

True to his word, he put all of his strength into his first attack, delivering a quick and heavy swing to the lead brother's torso. The red-haired thug thrust out his chest, deflecting the blow carelessly, before swinging his own sword with equal intensity, scraping against Skye's Keyblade and driving Skye backwards.

Max lunged at the one-eyed brother, saber and lance clacking fiercely together. Max brought his foot up over the interlocked weapons and kicked, shoving the thief back and causing him to almost lose his footing—almost. As Max turned his attention to the mutton-chopped brother who was menacing Skye, the silent Stabbington began creeping around the edges of the battle.

Max spun on his heel several times, his lance cutting against the lead brother's hip with every twirl. Skye whispered "Fira," lining his blade with red fire as he struck. The man seemed to be doubled over in pain for a brief second, but quickly shrugged it off and responded with a flurry of blows straight to Skye's right arm, though thankfully most of the damage was to his jacket.

Skye was suitably worried at this point—the sheer physical toughness of these opponents would have been trying in the best of circumstances…

The other brother had managed to creep up behind Skye, and very nearly succeeded in stabbing the Keyblade out of Skye's hand. Panicked, Skye slammed him in the face with the Keyblade's guard.

While Skye worked to gain advantage over the eyepatch-wearing brother, Max tried to engage the sideburned one, but the thug completely ignored Max's thrusts and ripostes, focusing all of his energy on Skye. The two brothers quickly flanked the small Keyblade wielder, gaining advantage swiftly.

Webby called out "Magnet!", pulling the two brothers toward her. As they spun around over her head, she stepped back to inspect them.

"These guys are crazy hardy," Skye commented. "They won't stay up there for long… Max, throw me."

Obligingly, Max held out his hands, and Skye stepped atop them. Max flung Skye at the spinning Stabbingtons, and Skye swiped at both of them, pummeling them at the moment that Webby's spell expired and they dropped to the ground.

Webby lifted Skye into the air with a spell, and Skye attempted to aim his magical energy at the brothers, but one of them kicked Webby and stomped on her prone form, ending her spell.

Enraged, Skye delivered a vicious three-hit combo to the brother's chest, to seemingly no effect.

"Hmm… you know, I thought this would be a lot harder," the Stabbington brother said dryly.

"I'm tired, okay?" Skye said defensively. "I just _had_ a big fight, with two guys who I think are _way_ more dangerous than you jokers." He jumped backward. "But I've still got an ace up my sleeve—check this out."

Skye produced the teal diamond he'd found in the icy waters around Atlantica. "Boom! A Summon gem. Even I don't know what kind of horrible beast this thing will call. You better run."

The brothers just stood there, glaring at him.

"No? Okay, then," Skye said. He attuned himself to the diamond's magic, and the creature's name flowed into his mind for him to speak: "Perry!"

The diamond glowed, and in a puff of blue-green smoke, a creature appeared. It was tiny, stubby, and covered in sleek hair the same color as the diamond. Its broad beak, similarly broad tail, and webbed hind feet were orange, and its beady brown eyes pointed in two different directions. It stood motionless between the three friends and the two brothers.

Skye stared blankly at the creature. "What the Realm of Darkness is that thing?"

"I… I think it's a platypus," Max said uncertainly.

The creature—Perry, evidently—made a chittering noise which, Skye supposed, could have been transcribed as "Ktrtrtrtrtr."

Skye scoffed. "Well, if that's not the lamest Summon in the long history of—"

Abruptly, Perry's blank expression became stern and dangerous. In a single rapid-fire gesture, he raised himself to his hind legs and produced a fedora out of nowhere, slapping it onto his head.

From nowhere in particular, a jazzy chorus of women's voices sang, "PERRRRYYYY!"

Perry took a great leap toward one of the Stabbingtons' face, swiping with his fists and tail to knock him flat on his back, then jumped to the other brother and took him down in the same manner.

Skye tightened his grip on his Keyblade. "We're back in this fight, folks."

Max nodded and charged at the brothers, swiping with the side of his lance to keep them knocked over, while Skye retreated to tend to the unconscious Webby, feeding her a potion.

"Thanks, Skye," she whispered. "Heal!"

Skye's wounds were cleaned—he was so tired and weak, he hadn't even realized he was injured. He staggered and dropped to one knee.

The Stabbingtons flung Max and Perry aside and charged Skye together. Max jumped over them and raced to Skye's side, pulling him to his feet.

"All together now," Skye said. All three of them aimed their weapons at the oncoming foes. Light energy burst from the tip of Wide Open Space, charging Max's lance and Webby's crystal with the same energy. With a mighty leap, all three of them met the Stabbington brothers' charge, igniting an explosion of fire, lightning, and white sparks.

The Stabbingtons backed away, but Perry jumped in from behind them, one foot on each of their shoulders, and began to spin, slapping them both in the face repeatedly with his broad tail. When the spinning stopped, Perry jumped back toward Skye.

"Thanks, Perry!" Skye said just before Perry disappeared.

The Stabbington brothers faced a rejuvenated Skye, Max, and Webby.

"All right," the brother with sideburns said, sheathing his sword. "We're leaving. We'll get Rider and the crown, skip the Keyblade."

They ran off down the same tunnel from which they had come.

"Man, I hope that never happens again," Skye muttered. "We've gotta get some rest before anything else happens… Webby, any chance of finding one of those 'populated areas' we talked about?"

"There's a kingdom close by," Webby replied.

"We'll go that way, then," Skye said quietly. "Come on, guys."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Mother Gothel anxiously rushed around her tower, searching frantically. "Rapunzel?" she called. "Rapunzel!" She trudged down the stairs, in shock. "This is very, very bad, Mr. Blot. She's gone."

"She?" the Phantom Blot replied. "Your artifact of light is a 'she'?"

Gothel spotted something glittering underneath the stairs. Lifting up the step, she found a leather satchel—within was an amazing bejeweled crown and a Flynn Rider wanted poster.

"Hmm," she said softly.

"Care to explain what's going on?" the Blot demanded.

"Yes, yes, that would be helpful," Gothel muttered. "The so-called 'artifact' was a golden flower, grown from a drop of sunlight. I discovered it centuries ago, and used it to keep me young. Then, soldiers of the kingdom found it and stole it from me—then fed it to the dying, pregnant queen, transferring its power to the golden hair of the newborn princess."

The Phantom Blot rubbed his nonexistent chin thoughtfully. "Then… then what?"

"Well, I had to take back what was mine, didn't I?" Gothel said simply. "I would have only taken her hair, but it loses its power when cut. So to reclaim my property, I had to… _adopt_ the princess. I've been raising her as my daughter, here in this secret tower, ever since."

"I see," the Blot said, intrigued but clearly unbothered. "So, your artifact… this precious relic that you've held so close to your heart, it's the princess?"

"No, no," Gothel said. "It's her hair. But if we want to use the holy powers of her hair, she's kind of a package deal." She rolled up the wanted poster and stuffed it back into the satchel. "Why would she leave? I've spent eighteen years telling her horror stories of the outside world, making absolutely sure she stays right here in the tower…" She eyed a painting, of mysterious floating lights rising up in the night sky.

"Of course, the floating lights," Gothel hissed. "She's heading toward the kingdom… come with me, Mr. Blot. We have to find her and bring her back here, before she finds out who she really is. And before I get too old… I'm not looking my best right now…"

"Behind you all the way," the Blot said. "I am quite eager to see this magical golden hair."

"You'll love it," Gothel said. "It's gorgeous."


	20. Follow the Light

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Funny thing: I named the _Rapunzel_ (okay, _Tangled_) world "Kingdom of the Sun". Little did I know that this was the working title for _The Emperor's New Groove_, back before they revamped it into the oh-so-awesome zany comedy it is today. Not only that, but some removed plot elements from _Kingdom of the Sun_ made their way into _Tangled_, such as the youth-obsessed villainess and, of course, the sun motif. So many weird coincidences follow me around in this fic. It wigs me out sometimes.

**Follow the Light**

Skye led a briskly-paced trek through the forest. He was barely surprised when a small group of Shadow Heartless appeared on the path in front of him.

With a flick of his wrist, he bisected the closest one, then slammed another on the head. He finished the third with a jumping stab clear through its body.

"Flawless victory," he said smugly.

He didn't waste more than a second congratulating himself; he was well aware of the tendency for Heartless to attack from all directions. He turned around and charged between Max and Webby, wading into the Heartless that were indeed surrounding them.

Without looking, Max stabbed a Shadow that was right behind him. He twirled, disintegrating a few more.

"You're looking better," Max commented to Skye.

"Thanks," Skye said. "Yeah, think I'm back on my feet. Was feeling pretty crummy back there for a while…" He swung, taking out three Shadows in one shot. "But I'm good now," he finished.

Max looked around and pointed with his lance. "Hey, look—down there in the clearing."

In a forest clearing far downhill from the trio, more Heartless were crawling out of the ground. Skye took in the scene and quickly calculated a path through the forest to get to them.

"Guys, follow me," he said. "If we loop around, we can take them by surprise. It'll be a lot easier than just charging in from above."

Max eyed the Heartless down below, then looked at Skye. "It's a good plan," he said.

"You sound almost surprised. Let's go."

The three of them took a roundabout route through the forest, zipping stealthily between trees, and in a matter of minutes burst out into the clearing—only to find that very few Heartless were left in the clearing, and those few that remained were instantly destroyed by whips of golden light, as bright as the sun, blinding in the early evening semi-darkness.

When Skye, Max, and Webby's eyes adjusted, they saw that the light was coming from huge locks of long, blond hair spread all around the entire clearing—the seemingly endless tresses of a short and slender young woman with huge green eyes. She was barefoot, wore an old-fashioned lace peasant dress and, for some reason, clutched a frying pan in both hands.

As they watched, the light of her hair vanished, but it remained impossibly shiny, sleek, and clean. And to their increasing disbelief, the hair began to withdraw back toward the girl, fading into a huge and thick braid that went down to her ankles. Flowers of all sorts began popping up all down the braid. The woman inhaled deeply and held her pan loosely at her side.

A man walked into the clearing, whom Skye quickly recognized as Flynn Rider, though the poster hadn't flattered the man's nose. "Nice one, Blondie," he said. "You made short work of those monsters… with your magic hair and the frying pan of doom, what do you need me for?"

Skye lowered his Keyblade and looked to the girl in surprise. "You defeated all those Heartless with… with your hair and a frying pan?"

"Frying pan _of doom_," Rider clarified. "Say, is that a Keyblade?"

Remembering how Rider's presumed partners had reacted to the blade, Skye simply dismissed his weapon and didn't answer.

"A Key… blade?" the girl said softly. A tiny green chameleon suddenly appeared on her shoulder and squeaked in her ear conspiratorially. She tightened her grip on the frying pan's handle.

"Yeah, you've never seen one?" Rider said in surprise. "Tell your amphibian to relax, these are the good guys."

"O… okay. Take it easy, Pascal."

"Yes, we're… we're champions of light," Skye said. "I'm Skye, miss, and these are my friends Max and Webby."

"I'm Rapunzel," she said, shifting on her feet awkwardly.

"Well… please, Miss Rapunzel, if… if it's not prying… your magical hair, how does it work? You used it to destroy those Heartless?"

"Yeah, I don't really understand it…" Rapunzel said, gently fingering a few locks of her hair. "When it glows, it's supposed to heal injuries and ailments, but when the Heartless touch it, they die. I can't explain it."

Skye nodded thoughtfully. "I think maybe I can. When a Heartless is destroyed, their captive hearts are released, so destroying them kind of _is_ healing them… or is that only when you kill them with a Keyblade? Hmm… I'm not sure."

Skye went on thinking as Rapunzel stared blankly.

"He got 'Keyblade Academy: The Abridged Series'," Max explained.

"…Oh," Rapunzel said. She shrugged and smiled. "Well, it's nice to see that there are even more friendly faces in the world than I thought. Since I left my tower—"

A ring of Shadow Heartless appeared around the edges of the clearing. Flynn took cover, and Pascal squeaked and hid somewhere in Rapunzel's dress. Rapunzel raised her frying pan without hesitation.

"You three, come over here," she whispered.

Her voice was compelling enough that the three did exactly that, rushing to her side as the Heartless menaced them from all directions.

"I can protect us all," Rapunzel said softly. "Flower, gleam and glow!"

Her hair spontaneously broke out of the braid and started piling out onto the dirt in the clearing, though somehow remaining golden and pristine. She spun on her heel like a ballerina, sending her hair flying in ever-widening circles, disintegrating the Shadows and beating back some of the larger, mushroom-shaped enemies.

A few strands of hair pulled Skye closer to Rapunzel, and he felt the motion of his weapon become synchronized with hers. Back-to-back, they spun together, the Keyblade proving to be _almost_ as effective as the frying pan.

Rapunzel and Skye performed a leaping attack together, and golden light expanded in a shockwave around the battlefield. The remaining Heartless faded, and Rapunzel's hair dissolved back into its complex braid. When the shockwave passed over Skye, Max, and Webby, they found all of their weariness and and battle damage relieved.

More Heartless crawled out of the ground, Neoshadows among them. "Can you do that again?" Skye asked.

Rapunzel breathed heavily. "You'll have to give me a minute."

"Fair enough."

A Neoshadow grabbed Webby by the arm and started grappling with her. Max impaled it, and picked Webby up, holding her above his head. He kept the Heartless at bay with his lance, while she blasted them from her high vantage point.

Skye infused his Keyblade with lightning, making the act of slicing through the Heartless hordes slightly easier. When one of the Neoshadows jumped into the air to pounce on him, he shot a lightning bolt at it, destroying it mid-leap.

Rapunzel spun, hitting Heartless alternately with her frying pan and her braid. She didn't cease, even as she destroyed one lesser Heartless after another, while the single Neoshadow in her circle of terror looked increasingly indignant about being hit in the face with such unconventional weaponry. Finally, its hand lunged out and it caught Rapunzel by the wrist, stopping her spinning. Unfortunately, it had grabbed the hand that wasn't holding her frying pan, and she quickly brought the pan in an arc, caving in the Heartless' head.

A third wave came slinking in from behind the trees, and Rapunzel tapped Skye on the shoulder. "I'm ready," she whispered.

She held her frying pan in both hands and held it up over her head. "Flower, gleam and glow!" she declared a second time.

Her hair spiraled out, seeming almost to seek out the Heartless one by one and pierce their centers directly. Rapunzel's feet left the ground, and a golden sun appeared above her head and shot beams of pure light in all directions. None of the Heartless survived for more than a few seconds.

Rapunzel floated back down to earth, her hair braided once again. Pascal came out of Rapunzel's dress and scuttled over to Webby, snuggling her. Flynn Rider came out of hiding, looking extremely impressed.

Skye smiled at Pascal and Webby, then pointed his blade at Rider. "Now… about the wanted thief…"

Rapunzel pushed Skye's blade down with her pan. "Please, don't. I need him to take me to the kingdom. Seeing the lanterns that are going to fly into the air tomorrow night is my lifelong dream… I need him."

Skye looked into Rapunzel's pleading, innocent eyes, and was immediately convinced. "Okay," he said. "But… listen, I had a run-in with his accomplices…"

"The Stabbingtons?" Flynn interrupted, his hands up in surrender. "Yeah, they don't like me. I kind of ditched them."

"Please," Rapunzel said again.

Skye dismissed his Keyblade. Rapunzel was clearly pure of heart, and the admiration on Rider's face when he looked at her was completely sincere; it was clear to Skye that neither of them was a threat.

Rapunzel looked to the setting sun. "We should get back to our camp," she said. "We want to get an early start tomorrow."

"Ooh," Skye said, "Can we come with you? Listen, the powers of your hair might attract some bad people. It'll help to have a Keyblade wielder on your side."

Rapunzel nodded. "Of course."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"My mother would have agreed with you," Rapunzel said as they sat around a campfire. "She's always talking about people trying to steal my hair, cut it and sell it… but you can't cut it. It loses all its power when it's cut. That's why my mother has me living in a tower, hidden deep in the forest. She told me never to leave, but… my heart longs to be free!" She stared into space wistfully, then looked down at the dirt. "I just want to see the floating lights. Just a day or two, then… then I'm going back, before she even finds out I'm gone."

Flynn tapped Skye on the shoulder. "Thanks for volunteering to stick with us. I'm not much of a protector myself. So, anyone thinking it's about time to sleep?"

"Yeah," Max said promptly. "I'll pitch the tents."

He pulled three tiny green pouches out of his belt and tossed them out into the forest clearing. They expanded into three fully-pitched, full-sized tents.

Skye looked to Max in astonishment. "You carry a bunch of tents around with you?"

"Yeah, you don't?"

"No," Skye said blankly.

"Come on, we're adventurers," Max protested. "We're gonna wanna pitch a tent every now and again. Beats sleeping on the ground. The real high-tech adventurers, they carry around whole cottages. I'm not sure how…"

Flynn clapped his hands together. "Well, I'm not gonna turn down that kind of luxury. See you fellow nice guys in the morning." He ducked into one of the tents.

"Yeah, it's getting late," said Webby, still cradling Pascal in her arms and retreating into a different tent.

"You turning in too, Rapunzel?" Skye asked.

"No…" she said. "I'd like to stay up a while longer. Look at the stars."

"Cool," Skye said. "We'll all be right here."

Rapunzel smirked and swung her frying pan. "I can handle the Heartless by myself, Skye."

Skye blushed. "Right," he said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Gothel and the Phantom Blot stood on higher ground, looking down at the campsite where Rapunzel was now alone in the open.

"There she is, sitting there all by herself," Gothel said thoughtfully. "Perfect."

"Anything we can do to help?"

Gothel turned her head; Dr. Facilier and Randall had appeared next to her, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Well, you're my supervisors, aren't you?" Gothel said sweetly. "So supervise. As in, back off a little."

"Oh, yeah," Randall sneered, "real nice, tight-knit Brotherhood we're running here."

"Look, this is a very delicate situation," Gothel explained. "We need a subtle approach, a plan that involves those very close to the action."

From a nearby tree, the Stabbingtons burst out of a hidden door. "I'll kill him," the sideburn-bearing brother growled. "I'll kill that Rider!"

Gothel beamed at the Phantom Blot. "Like _them_," she said. She tapped the Blot on the shoulder. "Let me know if Rapunzel looks like she's going to turn in."

"What will _you_ be doing?" the Blot inquired.

"Everybody needs pawns, Mr. Blot," Gothel said with a winning smile, walking down the hill toward the thuggish twins.

"They do indeed," the Blot said, amused. He looked back down at Rapunzel. "Wow… look at that hair…"

"I'll be back in a minute to talk to her," Gothel called over her shoulder.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Okay, here's something interesting. You'll notice that I have Rapunzel's hair set up in the braid-and-flower style that she bears for only a brief amount of time in the movie, with her normal "endless tresses" only emerging during her Limit Break. Why? Well, Rapunzel's normal hairstyle is an extremely difficult thing to animate, especially in a video game. Her braid is marginally easier to handle, so I figured that, if Rapunzel made an appearance in a genuine Kingdom Hearts game, that's how her hair would be handled.

Because that's the kind of crap I think about; the physical limitations my fanfic would have if it were an actual video game. I'm a gigantic dork.


	21. No Holds Barred

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

While we're talking about _Tangled_, my mom loves that movie. She adores Rapunzel and Flynn and loves to hate on Mother Gothel and the Stabbington Brothers. I once overheard her talking with one of her friends from her college Women's Studies course, deeply analyzing Rapunzel's upbringing and relationship with Gothel. Most of it went over my head, because, you know, she got an A in Women's Studies and I've never gotten an A in jack squat.

But she did mention that, having been raised the way she was, Rapunzel in real life couldn't have possibly grown up into such a sweet and amiable person, and theorized that her incorruptibility is the result of the sun's gift filling her heart with light. This from a woman who claims to be profoundly uninterested in _Kingdom Hearts_. That was just beautiful.

**No Holds Barred**

The group woke up to the sounds of Flynn screaming.

Skye, Max, Webby, and Rapunzel burst out of their tents, weapons drawn, to see Flynn being dragged away by a white, armored stallion, gripping Flynn's boot in its teeth.

"Hey!" Skye barked. "Let him go!"

He blasted the horse with a jet of light. The horse snarled and let go of Flynn, then somehow managed to draw an iron gladius, brandishing it in his mouth and glaring at Skye fiercely.

The combatants stood at the ready, shuffling their feet, getting a measure on their opponent. The horse struck first, slashing at Skye before darting to the edge of the clearing, where it circled around before barreling back into the camp, bowling over all four of the defenders at once.

Rapunzel was the first to get back to her feet. She struck the horse across the muzzle with her frying pan just once, and it stopped, staring at her dumbfounded.

"Hi there," Rapunzel said, petting him and checking the nameplate on his armor. "Listen… Maximus… I know it's your duty and your pleasure to bring in this dirty rotten thief…"

"What?" Flynn demanded, lying on his back in the dirt.

"But I gave my word to him, you see," Rapunzel went on. "He brings me to see the lanterns and back to my tower; and in return I protect him."

"Was protecting me part of the deal?" Flynn wondered.

Rapunzel looked over her shoulder at him, smirking. "It is now. Just look at you, you need all the help you can get… Anyway, yeah," she said to Maximus, "I can't let you take him away. I'm sorry."

Maximus scowled suspiciously.

"Also, it's my birthday," Rapunzel said brightly. "Just so you know."

At that, Maximus reluctantly dropped his weapon to the ground.

"There we go," Rapunzel said. "You okay, Eugene?"

She helped Flynn to his feet. "Yeah, thanks," Flynn said, glaring at Maximus, who aggressively glared back.

Max clapped his hands, and the tents disappeared. "All right, team, let's move out!" he said cheerfully. He paused, and turned to Flynn. "'Eugene'?" he demanded. "I thought you were Flynn Rider."

"Okay, 'Eugene' doesn't leave this clearing," Flynn announced. "Are we clear on that?"

"I _like_ Eugene," Rapunzel said simply, walking away with Maximus at her side.

"…Huh," Flynn muttered.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

As they travelled through the forest, a pack of Shadows appeared on their path. Rapunzel, Webby, and Max nonchalantly jumped forward to attack, while Skye took a chance on expecting the Heartless to use a surrounding tactic. He was not disappointed, and found plenty of Heartless to rake through behind the group.

They were all destroyed in a matter of seconds. Skye shared a triumphant grin with Max at the realization: battling groups of small Heartless had become routine, less than a nuisance.

They passed out of the forest, beholding a beautiful stone bridge leading across the sea to an island, where a magnificent kingdom and castle stood.

"Wow," Rapunzel breathed.

"I know," Flynn agreed. "I was just here, stealing that crown from that very tower." He pointed, then chuckled uneasily at the strange looks all the others were giving him. He then ripped a wanted poster of himself off of one of the bridge's supports and crumbled it up.

"Tink, Wally B., scout ahead," Skye said, producing the pixie and bee from his pockets. "If there are any Heartless or soldiers, turn us away."

The two of them flew ahead, and the group followed, crossing the bridge without incident. At the gates to the kingdom, a party was in full swing, with musicians, dancing, and merchant booths. Rapunzel immediately broke off from the group and began flittering around, taking in every sight, and attracting a lot of attention with her long and beautiful braid as well as her sheer, wide-eyed exuberance.

"The festival is for the lost princess," Flynn was explaining to Max and Webby. "She was kidnapped as a baby, maybe eighteen years ago. This celebration lasts all day, and then at night a thousand flying lanterns are released into the sky, in the hopes that the princess will return someday. That's what Rapunzel came here to see: the lanterns, up close and personal."

They all looked back at Rapunzel, who was enjoying a cupcake and chatting up a group of young girls.

"You get that she's about nine different kinds of cute, right?" Skye asked Flynn.

Flynn laughed. "I'm starting to."

There were some surprised and amused gasps from the crowd as Rapunzel abruptly started dancing, right in the middle of the street. Soon, others joined her, and Rapunzel began tugging other people into the dancing circle. Soon, she came after Flynn, who immediately began objecting, until Maximus shoved him and he was carried along into the flow of the dance against his will. Maximus let out a whinny that sounded a lot like laughter.

Skye, Max, and Webby managed to slip away before they too were sucked in. Tinker Bell floated up alongside them, looking indignant.

"Oh, you're just mad because people are noticing Rapunzel more than you," Skye chided.

Tinker Bell glared at him, then vanished in a burst of gold light, which was absorbed back into Skye's necklace.

Skye chuckled. "She'll be back," he muttered.

"I hope so, we kind of need her," Max said. "Guys, look at this."

He pointed toward a large mosaic, decorated heavily with the kingdom's sun motif, depicting a kindly-looking bearded king and beautiful young queen cradling a tiny little girl.

"The king and queen with their lost princess," Max said solemnly. "Everyone in the kingdom is celebrating, but they must be… I mean, just imagine."

Skye looked contemplatively at the lost princess, who had cheerful green eyes and flowing golden hair. "That's… that's Rapunzel," he said. "It has to be, right?"

"Can't be a shadow of a doubt," Max agreed. "As if the hair wasn't enough, look at those eyes. Same eyes as the queen." He chuckled. "Good thing we're here instead of Dad and Don and Sora. Those guys have _no_ powers of observation, they'd never notice the resemblance."

"Should we show this to her?" Webby asked.

"She's seen it," Skye said, remembering that Rapunzel had given it a good, long look as they were walking in. "She's probably mulling over the possibilities… probably doesn't want to think about it too hard. She's so happy right now, let's wait until after the lantern thing to discuss how, you know, her whole life is a lie."

Max nodded. "Good call."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Flynn and Rapunzel got into a little skiff at the castle docks.

"This is it," he said. "You and me, we're gonna have the best seats in the house." He turned to Skye and the others. "You guys don't mind me taking her out like this, do you? Just me and Rapunzel… and Pascal, apparently."

The chameleon glared at him from Rapunzel's shoulder, setting his jaw in a stern expression.

"I think he's got you covered," Skye said.

Flynn started rowing out into the bay. "Hey, Maximus!" he called.

He tossed a sack of apples at the horse's feet. Maximus eyed him suspiciously.

"What? I bought them," Flynn said defensively. "_Most_ of them," he added under his breath.

"You stay here and enjoy those, Maximus," Skye said, watching Flynn and Rapunzel's boat drift farther and farther away as the sun went down. "We're gonna find ourselves a good spot."

Skye, Max, and Webby left the horse's company and started walking along the shore. Soon, a single beacon of light appeared on a castle balcony and began rising into the sky. Other little beacons followed, each one held in the hands of a different citizen somewhere in the kingdom.

The tiny paper lanterns took to the air, drifting upwards in a massive cloud, until they dotted the sky like a second layer of stars.

Skye muttered a quick prayer. "You don't see something that beautiful on every world," he muttered to Max and Webby. "This is… this is something."

"I never did see the appeal in these things," someone sneered. "Just some floating lights."

The trio turned, weapons drawn. There stood Mother Gothel, her face gaunt and her hair grayer than ever.

"Who are you?" Skye asked, immediately on guard from her tone.

"Gothel, I'm called Gothel," the old woman said tiredly. "I'm Rapunzel's mother."

Skye stepped back, his Keyblade never leaving his side. "No you're not," he said. "The queen is… You're the 'mother' who kept her trapped in a tower with your lies and fear."

"Don't sass me, Key-brat," Gothel snapped, waving a finger at him. "The sun's gift was for me. I had to protect it somehow. She thinks she can get away with escaping, well, she can't. I already visited her last night to plant a little seed of doubt. Now look…"

She pointed to the little skiff. Flynn was rowing to a distant shore, where the Stabbington brothers were waiting, concealed from view.

"She's already given him back the crown he stole," Gothel said. "The Stabbingtons are to disable Rider and send him sailing off with the crown. They're going to tell Rapunzel that Rider sold her to them for the crown. It helps their performance that they really do believe that they get to keep her, perhaps resell her… but then I'll swoop in and knock them out," she said proudly, her nose in the air and a hand to her heart. "And she'll rush into my arms… me, her mother, the only being in all the world she can trust."

"That'll never work," Skye sneered. "Rapunzel's heart is pure. Your cynicism didn't keep her in the tower and it won't get her running back to you. And why are you even telling us this?"

"Oh, well, obviously the Keyblade can't be allowed to interfere in our 'master plan'," Gothel said casually. She drew a dagger from within the folds of her robe. "And if you're going to dispose of someone, it's polite to explain why."

"I don't think so," Skye said, running forward and taking a huge swing at her with his Keyblade. She vanished in a wisp of fog.

"Skye!" Max cried out.

Skye somehow sensed her coming before he heard the rush of wind; he rolled aside right as Gothel was sliding along the ground, ready to stab him. She disappeared again.

"Light," Webby muttered. A glowing orb appeared above her crystal, and she held the crystal aloft, looking around and attempting to find Gothel there in the gloom.

"FIRE!" Gothel cried out from an unexpected direction. The trio were pelted with fireballs, and set to defending themselves with varying degrees of success.

Skye spotted her, floating in the air just where the water met the land. He jumped at her and angled his Keyblade to cleave her in the skull. She tumbled aside and flew up from beneath him, nicking him many times with her dagger.

"Thunder," she hissed, and a lightning bolt shot from her dagger and into Skye's chest, throwing him to the ground. The bolt extended unerringly out of Skye's body to zap Max, and again from Max's body to Webby's.

The trio hunched over, breathing heavily. No sooner were they about to recover when Gothel executed the exact same spell, a chain of electricity weaving through all three of them.

Gliding across the ground at high speed, Mother Gothel darted past Skye, cutting him viciously with her dagger. She changed direction abruptly and performed the same hit-and-run maneuver against Max, then spun toward Skye again. He thought he'd be ready for her, but she was too fast; she left with with another wound in his side and his Keyblade smacking against pebbles on the beach.

"Not cool!" Skye growled. "We can't even land a hit on her!"

"Oh yes we can," Max growled. Another barrage of fireballs came at them, but Max deflected with his lance before any hit him. "Webby, can you set traps?"

"Maybe…" Webby said thoughtfully.

Max held out his lance, a challenge. Gothel, amused, charged at him, sidestepping the lance to go for his unguarded left side.

He held out his hand, and her forehead collided with his arm. Max twirled, throwing the now dazed Gothel toward Webby, who set a square of glowing white glyphs on the ground. Gothel came to her senses quickly enough to levitate back up before touching any of the glowing symbols; she disappeared yet again.

"Quick, into the circle!" Webby said excitedly. Max and Skye joined her at the center of her square of magical mines, careful to leap over them. The three of them stood together in their defensible region, on guard for attack from any direction.

She reappeared in the exact same spot she had vanished from, floating directly above them. She dropped down on them, her dagger leaving a huge scratch down Skye's back.

"AAARRRGH!" Skye roared in pain, his voice cracking, but he didn't miss a beat, spinning on his heel for a counterattack.

A key, a lance, and a lightning bolt descended upon Mother Gothel. Desperately, she dropped a huge fireball at her own feet, which exploded and sent Gothel and her opponents flying in different directions.

Skye got to his feet and shook his head to clear it. Gothel materialized behind him, dagger at the ready; sensing her before he saw her, he jammed the hilt of his Keyblade into her face. She teleported to a spot near Max, but with a single deft twitch of his lance, he cut her feet out from under her.

She faded into a cloud of black smoke, which seeped across the ground to a spot far out of the reach of any of the combatants. The smoke rematerialized into Gothel, who suddenly looked tired and out of breath. She heaved herself back into the air and shot more bolts of electricity out of her dagger, and fireballs from her fingers.

Skye and Max shared a glance, and it was clear they both had the same idea. They both looked at Webby, and saw that she was on board.

Max and Skye each extended a hand, and Webby stepped forward, one foot on each of their hands. Max and Skye hurled her into the air, far above Gothel's line of fire, and at the very top of her arc, Webby began pelting the old woman with Blizzard spells.

Skye rushed to catch Webby before she hit the ground; Gothel, meanwhile, hit the ground hard, barely getting her dagger up in time to deflect Max's lance. She skirmished with him for a few moments before he grazed her, then dashed to the side, only for Skye to engage her with his Keyblade alight. He swung his blade like a baseball bat, knocking her in an arc toward the forest.

Gothel clutched her wounds as the three advanced on her. "Any old time you feel like helping, Mr. Blot," she said pleasantly.

"But of course."

Three spears of pure darkness shot out of the forest and pierced Skye, Max, and Webby directly in the heart. They each stood dazed for a split second, then collapsed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Skye awakened to Maximus nudging and pawing at him anxiously.

"Maximus?" Skye muttered. "How long have we…?" He jumped to his feet and looked around; Max and Webby were wearily standing up.

"It's nearly dawn," Skye said. "The old lady's plan might have actually worked. She'll have taken Rapunzel back to the tower, gotten her to believe she can't trust anyone…" He wrung his hands together. "We need Flynn. If she sees that he didn't really abandon her… yes. That'll work. Maximus, do you know where Flynn is?"

Maximus nodded and began galloping off toward the castle.

"Hold up," Skye called. Maximus slowed briefly, long enough for Skye to get up on his back. As they raced through the town, a group of Heartless rose up to block their path. Skye held out his Keyblade one-handed and sliced through the entire group without even moving his arm.

Maximus rode into a small town square, where a gallows was set up. Maximus took a single flying leap to the top of the gallows, and bucked Skye into the air, toward the barred windows of a jail.

Skye slashed before he hit the wall; his Keyblade reduced the thick stone wall to dust, and Skye found himself standing in what was now a not-so-secure cell.

Flynn stood there next to him, looking surprised. He gazed out into the square, where Maximus whinnied at him in greeting and Max and Webby were just catching up on foot.

Flynn turned back to Skye. "Thanks," he muttered softly.

"Eugene, Rapunzel's in trouble," Skye said.

"I know," he said darkly. "It's the mother, isn't it? Taking her back to the tower."

Skye nodded. "Do you know how to get there?"

"I sure do. Maximus!"

Flynn flung himself bodily out of the cell. Maximus jumped to intercept, and when they both hit the ground, Flynn was firmly on the stallion's back. Flynn grabbed Webby by the hand and pulled her into the saddle in front of him as he galloped out of the city.

Skye summoned his glider and floated down alongside Max. He tapped the back of his glider's comfortable seat, and Max jumped aboard, standing behind Skye and towering over him even more than usual.

Glider and horse raced side-by-side down the cobblestone streets.

"Let's do this, fellas!" Flynn declared. He snapped at Maximus' reins. "Yah!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**Endnotes**

Today, I have multiple insights into my process. First off: Gothel's combat style was modeled after that of Vanitas. I wanted Gothel to be the most serious battle that the trio have ever experienced—up to and including the "final boss preview" against Xefrii and Ciexu a few chapters ago. And to a _Kingdom Hearts_ player, there's nothing more scary or nerve-wracking than fighting Vanitas. The guy never stops coming at you! So I think his style lent itself well to Mother Gothel.

Giving magical powers to characters who previously didn't have them is nothing new in _Kingdom Hearts_; it was most noticeable in the first game. But I don't think that's what I did with Gothel—a lot of people talk about how she's a very unsettling villain because her power is all psychological, none of it magical… but I don't think that's actually true. First of all, consider that she knew how to work the magic flower; that suggests she has experience with magic. Then, take a look at any of her nighttime scenes; smoke and fog seems to follow her around, doing her bidding, allowing her to enter scenes abruptly and leave without a trace. Finally, consider that even though she makes it _look_ like she knocked out the Stabbington brothers with the pure physical force of a blunt object, we never _actually_ see how she pulled it off. So, the evidence is subtle, but I genuinely do think she's some sort of witch, just as she is in most tellings of the fairytale. The fact that she rarely relies on any of her powers is simply because her greatest power is that of passive-aggressiveness.

One final note, just so that this occasion is marked, this is the first chapter I've posted since the official announcement of _Kingdom Hearts III_. The announcement itself doesn't excite me; we all knew this was coming. But the good look at what the new graphics look like, the combat maneuvers that combine Flowmotion with Vanitas' skillset, Sora finding Eraqus' Keyblade washed up on the beach? _That's_ how you announce a game. Oh yeah.


	22. A Gift from the Heart

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Trying to streamline the process of writing and updating. It's difficult, because when I started the story I wrote a bunch of notes on how the whole deal would go down… unfortunately, I wrote them in shorthand and after more than a year and a half, I can't remember what most of my old notes actually mean. Kind of embarrassing. But, I've worked most of it out, so I think I'll actually be able to finish the story with relative alacrity. (Yes, alacrity. Find a way to use _that_ word in conversation.)

**A Gift from the Heart**

Gothel, her youth restored, plucked the last flower out of Rapunzel's hair. "There," she said. "It never happened."

Rapunzel sat on her bed, unresponsive.

"I tried to warn you, Rapunzel," Gothel said tenderly. "The world is dark, and selfish, and cruel. If it finds the slightest ray of sunshine, it destroys it. We must stay here, away from _all_ outside forces… now if you'll excuse me, I have to go speak to my friend."

Rapunzel lifted her head. "You have—" she began, but Gothel had already left and closed the door. "…friends?" Rapunzel finished weakly.

Gothel walked down the steps from Rapunzel's room. The Phantom Blot waited for her in the tower's main room.

"We'll give her a minute to think about her failures," Gothel said sweetly.

The Blot bowed. "You're a master of deceit and manipulation."

"I've had centuries to get good at this," Gothel said. "It's made me a natural mother, don't you think? Tell the boys we're almost ready."

"All right," the Blot said, starting for the window.

Rapunzel burst out of her room, pale and gasping in shock.

"Rapunzel?" Gothel said in alarm. "What's happened?"

The girl took a deep, calming breath, then glared down at Gothel dangerously. "I'm the lost princess," she stated firmly. "Aren't I?"

Gothel stammered.

"_Aren't I?"_ Rapunzel snarled viciously.

"Listen, Rapunzel…"

Rapunzel cut her off as she marched down the stairs. "All my life you've told me I should be hiding from what's out there… when I should have been hiding from you!"

"Everything I did, I did to protect you," Gothel said coldly.

"To protect my hair, you mean. Don't touch me! You're never touching my hair again!"

Rapunzel stormed away from Gothel, toppling a mirror as she did so. It shattered, shards spilling all across the tower floor.

"I'm leaving," Rapunzel announced. "I'm going to go save Eugene. I—" She paused as she came face-to-face with the Blot. She scowled at him and the roots of her hair started to glow. "Step aside," she said firmly.

The Blot did so, nervously sliding back toward Gothel. The pair of them watched as Rapunzel prepared to leave via the window. The Blot held up a hand, which started sparking with dark green magical energy. "Shall I?" he asked Gothel.

"No," Gothel said, her voice full of venom. "She wants me to be the bad guy, fine… I can be the bad guy."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The horse and the glider burst into the secret clearing that hid the tower, galloping and jetting straight for its base without hesitation.

"Look at that," noted Randall, concealed in the foliage.

Facilier crouched down into the bushes next to him. "Ah, yeah… the heroes show up," he said dryly.

"We gonna help?"

"She wants us to stick to supervising," Facilier said. "We'll stay out of it until she says otherwise."

"Heh," Randall chuckled.

Skye grabbed Flynn and Webby by the wrists, lifting them off of Maximus's back as he steered his glider straight up, toward the tower's lone window.

Flynn flung himself through the window. "Eugene, don't!" Skye called. "We don't know what's in there… Aw, crud. Come on."

Skye drove the glider through the window and let it dissolve; he, Max, and Webby dropped to the floor of the tower room, and were immediately coated from the shoulders to the floor in a sticky black substance that immobilized them completely.

"Is this… ink?" Skye wondered.

A featureless black face with white eyes leaned toward Skye, blocking everything else from his vision. "Hello," it said in a cordial voice. "I've been waiting to get my hands dirty on a few champions of light. This will be… most satisfying."

"You're the Phantom Blot," Max said in horror.

The shrouded figure turned to him. "Goofy's son, eh? Almost as clever and perceptive as the old man, aren't you?"

The Blot stepped aside, giving the trio the full view of what had just transpired there in the tower: Rapunzel was tied up and gagged; Flynn was flat on his back, clutching his abdomen and moaning in pain; and Gothel was using her cloak to wipe her dagger clean.

"Now look what you've done, Rapunzel," she said impassively. "Our secret will die with him and your other little friends. Now we depart this world, and our plans go into action."

Gothel opened a Corridor of Darkness in the middle of the tower, and began pulling Rapunzel along by her bonds.

"Mr. Blot, you'll join me once those three are finished?" Gothel asked.

"Yes, and I'll be bringing our companions back to base as well," the Blot confirmed.

Gothel pulled, but Rapunzel dug in her heels and thrashed around, struggling nonstop. Pascal grabbed the corner of Gothel's dress in his mouth and pulled. The woman looked down at him, puzzled, and kicked him across the room.

"Come _on_, Rapunzel!" she snapped, yanking hard on Rapunzel.

"No!" Rapunzel snarled, for her struggling had just released her gag. "No matter how long it takes, I will never stop fighting! I will never stop trying to get away from you!" Her face softened and she gestured toward Flynn. "But if you let me heal him… it'll all be exactly the way you want. I promise. And you know that I never break a promise… _Ever_."

Rapunzel and Gothel stared at each other for several seconds, calculating. "Very well," Gothel finally said, freeing Rapunzel's bonds and dismissing the Corridor. "Make it quick."

Rapunzel knelt down next to Flynn, looking up to smile apologetically at Skye, Max, and Webby, still frozen in position. "Hey, you guys," she said.

"Rapunzel, we'll find you and save you," Skye said rapidly. "Once we take out this guy, we'll come and save you."

The Blot snorted at that notion.

"It's okay, Skye, I don't need saving," Rapunzel said quietly. "As long as Eugene is okay, I'll… I'll make it work. Please make sure he gets out of here safely?"

Skye bowed his head. "When we get out of here, we'll see that he's safe." He and Rapunzel smiled at each other, then chuckled awkwardly.

"Rapunzel…" Flynn said weakly, "don't do this… who knows what they're gonna do to you, when they… when they…"

"It doesn't matter," Rapunzel said. "No matter what happens to me, I can't let you die."

She leaned in close to him. Abruptly and in a single motion, he grabbed a shard of mirror off the floor and hacked off Rapunzel's hair.

"NO!" Gothel roared. She dove for the piles and bundles of hair on the floor, scooping them up, but they were rapidly turning brown, and she was rapidly getting older.

"NO, NO, NO! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" she bellowed, now white-haired, her face practically skeletal. She drew up the hood of her cloak to hide her face and stumbled around the room in a blind rage.

Pascal picked up some of the hair and pulled it taut behind Gothel's feet. She tripped, and tumbled out the window.

"Mother, no!" Rapunzel cried out.

Outside the tower, Randall and Facilier watched in shock as Gothel fell slowly, like a feather. Once she landed on the ground, she was nothing but an old cloak filled with dust.

"Ooh," Randall said uneasily. "Um…"

"Okay," Facilier decided, "now we're getting involved. Come on."

The Phantom Blot glared at Pascal in disbelief. "Why, you little murdering gecko!" he exclaimed. He pointed one finger at the chameleon, and fired a bolt of green energy at him. Pascal dodged, but the Blot fired blast after blast, until one of them hit the ink in which he'd trapped Skye, Max, and Webby, freeing Skye's arm.

"Uh-oh," the Blot commented.

At the bottom of the tower, Maximus collapsed at Facilier and Randall's feet.

"Is it dead?" Randall asked, inspecting the prone stallion.

"I'm afraid not. Start climbin', Randy, the Blot needs us."

Rapunzel examined herself in horror. She now had choppy brown hair that didn't even reach her shoulders, and Flynn Rider, despite his triumphant expression, was weaker and more injured than ever.

"Eugene," Rapunzel sobbed. "I did this to you."

"No," Flynn chided. "No, not you… _him_." He lifted a shaky hand and pointed to the Phantom Blot.

"…What?" Rapunzel said, puzzled.

Flynn produced Rapunzel's frying pan and held it out for her, handle first. "Take him down for me," he whispered.

Rapunzel seemed confused for a second longer, then her face became determined and fierce. She took the pan from Flynn and turned to face the Blot, advancing on him dangerously.

"Hmph," the Blot said disdainfully. "I might actually be afraid, if you still had the gift of the sun's light. But your hair is cut, all of your magic is gone now. You're nothing. Eat paint thinner, lost princess."

He pointed his open palms toward her, and from both hands came a spray of gray-green goo, enveloping Rapunzel completely. The blast was conical, and ate away at much of the ink still trapping Skye and the others. In a few moments, they were free, but the thinner had also touched their skin, leaving them weak and in pain.

When the blast ceased, Rapunzel stood there, untouched by the goo and unharmed, seeming just as surprised as everyone else.

Panicked, the Blot jumped backward, all the way to the top of the stairs to Rapunzel's room. He snapped his fingers, and Skye, Max, and Webby suddenly started twitching and convulsing in agony. Rapunzel, unaffected, charged up the stairs to attack.

Skye felt his spasms pass, but the Blot's curse had drained even more of his energy. He saw Max and Webby recover as well, and Webby quickly held up her crystal and cried, "Heal!"

As his aches subsided, Skye saw the Blot gliding across the room, making a beeline for the window. Thinking fast, he pulled out his white diamond and flung it at the window. "Bolt!"

The big white dog appeared in the window. Seeing the Blot rushing toward his face, Bolt barked, blasting the phantom across the room.

"Stay at the window, boy," Skye called. "Don't let anything through!"

Bolt saluted. As Skye returned his attention to the Blot, Bolt turned around and looked out the window, where Randall and Facilier were climbing effortlessly up the stone and almost at the top. He growled at them.

"Whoa!" Randall cried out, jumping aside.

"It's just a dog, Randy," Facilier said dismissively.

Bolt shot at them both with his heat vision, and they crawled their way to the sides of the window, out of the line of fire.

"It's a dog, it's not _just_ a dog," Randall muttered.

Rapunzel came up alongside Skye as they advanced on the Phantom Blot. "His magic doesn't work on me," she said. "Why?"

"I don't know, but let's _use_ that," Skye said gleefully.

The Blot darted up the wall and across the ceiling.

"If I could just catch him…" Rapunzel said in frustration.

"We've gotta maneuver," Skye said. "Place ourselves in exactly the right place…"

The Blot's fingers extended into the sharp, spear-like tendrils that he had used before. Each spear hunted down one of the combatants, but this time they saw the attack coming; Webby deflected them with a magical barrier, Max hacked and slashed them away. Skye placed himself in front of Rapunzel and parried the spears away.

The Blot dropped onto the floor; Skye and Max promptly rolled in opposite directions, placing themselves at his flank. The Blot held his arms out to the sides and shot gray, crackling laser beams from his fingertips, catching them both in the beam. The attacks were aimed to the sides, however, which allowed Rapunzel to approach him directly from the front and pummel him with her frying pan. He clawed at her, his fingers leaving a trail of black smoke, but to no avail.

"_Magnet_," Webby whispered. The Blot struggled against the spell, but was sucked directly toward Webby anyway. As he floated helplessly above her head, flailing about, she cried, "_THUNDARA!_"

The lightning bolt launched the Blot through the air and back to the floor. He lifted his head, glaring furiously at Webby. "Suffer the slings and arrows of darkness!" he bellowed, conjuring a swirl of dark energy around his hands.

Rapunzel pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. He blasted her with seemingly every move in his arsenal; tentacles, lasers, orbs of green electricity and goo, but she brushed each of them off, continuing a relentless assault with her pan.

The Blot squirmed out of Rapunzel's grip, and Skye remembered the spell Master Sora had used against him: "_Bind!_" he said, snapping his fingers.

Golden tendrils of magic surrounded the Blot, but he brushed off the weak spell and jumped to the center of the room. "HOW?" he demanded of Rapunzel. "Your gift has been taken, and without that you're… you're just a little girl with a frying pan! Explain yourself! How is this possible?"

Rapunzel didn't answer; clearly, she had no clue.

"Because," Skye told the Blot, "the power of the sun wasn't just in her hair. That would be absurd. The gift, and the light, are in her heart."

Just as she had before, Rapunzel summoned a miniature sun over her head, which shot jets of light into the Blot's chest.

Bolt, still standing on the window sill, waved to catch Skye's attention. He tapped his wrist anxiously, just as the summoning spell expired and he vanished.

The Blot took the opening, gliding through the air at breakneck speed. Rapunzel jumped at him, her frying pan now laced with golden light, and struck him one last time.

Once he passed through the window, the Blot grabbed Facilier and Randall by their necks and yanked them away, soaring into the air and passing into a Corridor of Darkness high in the sky.

Rapunzel collapsed, exhausted. "Did I kill him?" she wondered, gnawing on her lip and looking out the window.

"No… I think he just ran away," Skye said nervously.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel gasped, suddenly alert. She rushed to his side and clutched his hand, but he was cold and still, his head flat on the floor.

"He's… he's gone," Webby whispered. "I can't heal him."

"Maybe you can, Rapunzel," Skye said, kneeling down next to her. "You have magic that none of us can hope to understand. And it's inside you… try it."

Rapunzel sobbed. "I… I can't. I don't understand how it works, I've never… I can't do it…"

A tear fell from her eye and landed on Flynn's cheek.

"Look at that," Max said excitedly.

The tear glowed golden, and little by little, tendrils of golden light extended out of it and filled the whole room like so many creeping vines. The beautiful display faded as quickly as it had appeared, and Rapunzel looked around at the others, confused.

"Rapunzel," Flynn whispered. "Have I ever told you I have a thing for brunettes?"

"Eugene!" Rapunzel squealed joyfully. She pulled him into a sitting position, and then into a prolonged, passionate kiss. Skye, Max, and Webby couldn't stop themselves; they practically danced around in celebration, whooping and laughing uncontrollably.

"Hey," said Eugene, getting to his feet. "I think it's about time our _princess_ returned home."

Rapunzel's face lit up. "Yeah…" she said. "Yeah! To see my mother and father! And…"

"And get to wear that old crown," Eugene said with a wink.

"What if they don't believe it's really me?" Rapunzel asked, a pleading expression in her eyes.

"They will," Eugene said softly. "They'll take one look at you… and they'll know."

Rapunzel nodded. "Then let's go." She turned her attention to the trio. "Hey, you guys," she said with a grin. She stepped up to Skye and hugged him tightly. "We should've spent more time together."

Skye hugged her back. "Some other time, maybe," he said, looking out the window. "Gothel and the Blot sure acted like they had accomplices, and some kind of master plan… we need to get out there and find out more."

"Okay," Rapunzel said. "Come back soon."

"I think we just might do that."

Eugene clasped Max's shoulder. "Be careful out there, fellas."

"Yeah, you too," Max replied.

"…Bye," Rapunzel said.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Lando was in the weapons gym at Crystal Spheres, twirling and dancing around as he dug his two small blades into an assortment of imaginary enemies.

"Well executed, Keyblade wielder."

He lifted his head. Ciexu stood at the entrance, standing perfectly still with her hands clasped behind her back and her blank pink eyes staring straight ahead rather than at him.

"Hey," Lando said casually. "Who are you?"

"Ciexu."

He looked her over. "What are you, some kind of Nobody?"

The corners of her lips twinged in amusement. "What, pray tell, makes you say that?"

"Well, I can't help noticing that you don't move."

"Be that as it may," Ciexu said, remaining motionless, "no, I'm no 'kind' of Nobody."

"Well, you're not foolin' anyone if you say you're human, sweetheart," Lando said cheerfully.

"Touché, but let's talk about you, not me," Ciexu said. "I notice you wield two Keyblades."

"Actually, it's just one," Lando said. He pressed the mini-Keyblades together, and in a flash of light they became a single blade, full-sized but still with the distinctive steel-gray double-hooks at its head.

"Filthy Fang," Lando explained. "Has a story behind it, a bit of a reputation. I learned early on to split it into two. Apparently, I'm the only Keyblade wielder who knows how to do that." In an instant, he was holding the two smaller keys once again, and practiced a few maneuvers with them. "With two smaller weapons, I gain accuracy and speed at the expense of strength. I think that's a good thing… at least, I've been _told_ that's what I think." He chuckled bitterly.

"Well, can you blame them for holding you back from raw power?" Ciexu asked. "Strength for the sake of strength implies brutality and savagery. It begets darkness."

"Uh-huh," Lando said. "I don't get it, though… Master Riku always says darkness shouldn't be feared."

"And yet he pushes you away from it by making you fight with subtlety."

"He also says it shouldn't be embraced either," Lando said, shrugging.

"I fear that Master Riku doesn't know what he's talking about," Ciexu said, with the faintest smirk appearing once again.

"So I came to suspect after every single thing he's ever said," Lando said, amused.

"By embracing darkness, nurturing and caring for it, you can have brute strength _with_ speed and accuracy," Ciexu explained. "As it happens, I'm the leader of a Brotherhood seeking to tap our individual capabilities for dark power."

"I'm in," Lando said simply.

"We—oh. You're… you're _in_?" She raised her eyebrows, the first time anything other than her mouth had moved since she had appeared. "Hmm, how abrupt. I didn't think it'd be that easy. Why so agreeable, if I may ask? Looking for power to impress a girl, show up a rival, kill someone you hate?"

"Eh, none of the above," Lando said, casually tossing and catching one of his Keyblades. "I'm just really into power."

"Marvellous," Ciexu said tonelessly. "We'll be in touch." A Corridor of Darkness appeared just behind her.

"Right _on_," he said. "I'm Lando, by the way."

The Corridor began to seal itself around Ciexu. "I know," she said.


	23. Stone of Destiny

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

So… when I said that _The Little Mermaid II_ would be the second-most-obscure world in this story, I was referring to this one that's coming up next as _the_ most obscure.

But now that I think about it, maybe _National Treasure_ was actually the most obscure world. Maybe I shouldn't have opened with that one. This upcoming world, at least, has a noted fanbase.

**Stone of Destiny**

By far the most mysterious member of the Brotherhood was Dominique Destine. The red-haired and red-suited businesswoman spoke very little, and even then only to provide technical knowledge rather than any personal details.

Dr. Facilier surveyed her curiously as they stood together atop a skyscraper, she at the very edge of the roof, looking straight into the setting sun. On all sides, they were surrounded by other tall and square-sided buildings, while down below one could make out a flurry of headlights and taillights rushing through the streets.

"So…" Facilier said to break the silence, "this is your city, eh Ms. Destine?"

"Soon to be my city, yes," she replied softly.

"It's quite a marvel," he said.

"Have they no cities such as this in your world?"

"None that I've seen," he admitted. "My city doesn't come close… it's nice enough, though. I wouldn't mind running it. But we're doing your scheme first." He clasped his hands together over his walking stick. "What's our first step, darlin'?"

"Our first step?" Destine said, amused. "We wait until sunset."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I'd rather not spoil the surprise," Destine said, finally turning to look at him. "Not for you, or for the Brotherhood, watching in their little scrying pool." She gestured all around them vaguely. "Let's just say that Dominique Destine is merely my tool for conducting business in this world of humans. My 'day job', if you will. For my current plan, though, I'd like to be at my best."

The sun dipped below the horizon, and almost immediately Destine doubled over in pain. "AAAAGGGH!"

Facilier watched in grim fascination as Destine's skin turned leathery and a bright shade of turquoise. Her hands transformed into huge four-clawed talons, and her feet did the same, bursting out of her shoes.

From the back of her skirt a long, thick, and flexible tail emerged; from her back, an enormous pair of clawed, batlike wings. She tore at what little remained of her suit, leaving her in a very revealing set of tattered rags.

As she turned to face Facilier, her cries of agony became a feral, feline snarl. She pulled back her full red lips to reveal fangs, and her eyes glowed a solid, unnatural red.

She took a few breaths to calm herself, and the red glow faded to reveal the same pair of green eyes Destine had had; indeed, despite the changes to much of her body, her face was exactly the same, just blue and with a pair of long, pointy ears.

"Look upon me, Shadow Man," she declared. "I am Demona. The real me in all my glory, a member of the ancient First Race—the race of gargoyles."

"I'm impressed," Facilier said sincerely. "That's a nice trick, the human thing."

Demona nodded. "Most of my kind turn to stone during the daylight hours," she explained. "But the changeling Puck gave me the gift of becoming human instead. By being awake all hours of the day, I am never vulnerable to attack, and may move among the humans freely."

"A 'gift'," Facilier muttered. "Not as nice as old Gothel's gift… _your_ gift looked like it hurt."

"The fair folk's gifts have strings attached."

"Don't I know it," he agreed. "So, what's our plan… Demona?"

She stood on the edge of the roof once again and started surveying the city. "We release Heartless in the streets, as many as we can," she said. "The carnage and slaughter will attract the attention of my former clan."

"Clan?"

"They may be fools and traitors to the gargoyle race," Demona said, "but they each have powerful hearts full of courage and heroism. If we can corrupt them with darkness to the point that they lose themselves, we will possess a group of Heartless and Nobodies mighty enough to gain control of the entire city for our Brotherhood."

"HA-HA! I love it!" Facilier crowed. He leaned toward her. "And then what?"

She glared. "What more do you need, fool?"

"I'd like to _know_, thank you very much, what you intend to do once the city is yours," he said threateningly.

"As you will. My world is overrun with humans. I'm going to kill them _all_."

He nodded, seemingly unfazed, and clapped her on the shoulder. "Nothing wrong with being ambitious. Let's get to it."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Some time before sunset, Skye, Max, and Webby stood on the battlements of an ancient stone building.

"So… where are we?" Skye asked, looking up at the towers and turrets.

"A castle, I think," Webby said. "It looks old."

Max looked off the edges of the battlements. "An old castle sitting on top of a brand-new shiny skyscraper, if I'm not mistaken."

Skye joined him on the edge, looked down, and gulped. The city streets were impossibly far below. He could even see a layer of thin white clouds drifting past below him.

"Looks like you're right," he said nervously. "Well, we might as well take a look around."

"Look at this," Max said, pointing up to one of the towers. He started up the stairs that spiraled around the outside edges of the circular tower, his eyes fixed on the top in fascination. Skye and Webby followed.

Atop the tower were seven statues of carved stone, each one a gargoyle, each one very different from the others. They ranged in size from a hulking giant that towered over each of them to a miniscule one no bigger than Skye, and everything in between. One had no wings, one had a distinctly female figure, one had a long beak on its face. All of them, however, were striking dramatic poses, with their faces frozen in feral roars and their muscles taut and rippling.

Skye examined the largest one, a giant with an immense wingspan, a strong and firm jaw, and long hair. _Whoever sculpted this must have been a genius_, Skye thought, for he could swear he saw a pensive thoughtfulness hidden within the monster's snarl.

"These are some _awesome_ gargoyles," he said, impressed.

From the battlements below came a sharp sparking sound, followed by a continuous whirr like a jet engine. A man rose up before them, hovering in the air via the rocket attached to the back of his suit of armor.

The armor was made of bulky gray-and-black steel, and with its clawed hands, taloned feet, wiry tail, and pair of sharp red wings, was clearly modeled after the gargoyles. Only the man's head was unarmored; he had a heavy tan, a trimmed beard, and long brown hair tied back in a ponytail.

He pointed a hand at the trio, and a cannon emerged from the forearm of his armor. "Step away from the gargoyles… if you'd be so kind," he said with a faint smirk.

Skye, Max, and Webby held up their hands in surrender and backed toward the stairs.

"That's right," the man said. "Nice and slow, back to the battlements."

At the bottom of the stairs was a pale man in a suit, with short blond hair and sleepy blue eyes behind wire-framed glasses. "Shall I summon the commandos, Mr. Xanatos?" he said in a casual monotone. He raised his right hand in a threatening gesture before Skye and the others could even think about trying to get past him. To their surprise, he had a fist made of stone; and as he rolled up his sleeve, they could see that much of his forearm was stone as well, before abruptly becoming flesh just before his elbow.

"That depends on whether they're going to give us trouble," the armored man said. He set down on the ground, turning his rockets off but keeping his cannon still pointed squarely at Skye. They were boxed in, with the tower wall behind them and Xanatos and his stone-fisted assistant blocking their escape from two different directions.

Skye summoned his Keyblade. "Call out your commandos or give us a reason to fight, and you'll see just how much trouble we can give," he said with false bravado.

Xanatos' smirk deepened. "Ah, would you look at that… That'll be a no on those commandos, Owen. Implement our strategy for dealing with Keyblade wielders."

"Is that the one where you and I attack mercilessly?" the blond man deadpanned.

"Yes."

Owen charged at them with surprising viciousness, wielding his stone forearm like a sword. Max brought out his lance to intercept, and the two weapons met with a sharp _clack! _Owen pulled away and thrust his fist at Max's midsection, but Max danced back, countering with an overhead twirl, then whipping toward Owen's skull; the stone arm blocked.

Seeing that the duel wasn't going anywhere, Webby wagged her fingers over her crystal and shot a jet of light at Owen. It exploded in his face, sending him backwards, staggering.

Skye approached Xanatos, in a defensive stance with his Keyblade at the ready. Xanatos shot a red laser out of his arm cannon, and Skye moved to deflect it. The laser went right through Skye's guard and blasted him backward.

Skye recovered immediately, and it registered just as quickly that fighting defensively wouldn't be an option. He charged at Xanatos, feinting and zig-zagging in different directions. He swung, but Xanatos caught the blade in his armored hand, then shot out with his other hand to lift Skye up by his neck and toss him hard to the ground.

Xanatos briefly regarded Owen, who was down on one knee. "You okay over there, Owen?"

Owen stood up and removed his glasses, sticking them in a shirt pocket. "As you know, sir, I don't believe in laying down on the job."

"Good man."

Xanatos picked up Skye and pulled him into a bear hug. Skye struggled, but was helpless until Webby jumped into the air and yelled, "_Watera!_"

A huge sphere of water appeared above Webby's head and lunged at Xanatos, splashing violently and shorting out his armor. Skye rolled away from the crackling electricity.

"Watera, huh?" he said to Webby. "I never learned that one."

She beamed. "I've been studying."

Owen had begun kicking and chopping at Max, holding his own against the young soldier despite lacking a weapon. Webby promptly declared, "_Thundara!_" and a single lightning bolt shoved Owen against the wall.

Webby stepped forward and promptly engaged Owen in a duel, her magic keeping him at a distance and pinned against the stone.

Xanatos lurched forward, his armor still malfunctioning from the water. "I don't believe in revenge," he said. "Far from it, I admire anyone with the ingenuity to think to short out my armor. But, well, it's Tactics 101… always eliminate enemy spell-casters first. Nothing personal."

He aimed his laser at her. She cast a barrier spell, but he shot clean through it—and continued shooting her, multiple times. She soon collapsed to the ground, covered in burn marks. Skye and Max could only stare in horror.

"That was surprisingly easy," Xanatos said. "I really thought she had you on the rails there, Owen."

"I'm ill-equipped for fighting magicians, sir," Owen said softly.

"I'll look into that," Xanatos said, turning toward Skye. "Well, Keyblader, I just brought your little magician friend down onto her face. How does that make you feel?"

Skye responded by charging at Xanatos, completely emotionless.

"Magnificent," Xanatos muttered just before they collided together.

Sparks flew as key scraped against claw, lasers collided in mid-air with Fira spells, Skye and Xanatos skirmishing wordlessly. His mind and heart free of distraction, Skye kicked Xanatos in the chest, knocking the armored man to his back, and set the tip of his Keyblade against his neck.

Owen successfully punched Max in the gut, doubling him over, and was preparing to rush to Xanatos' aid when a woman's voice yelled out, "Everybody freeze!"

A woman approached, stepping between Max and Webby's Gummi pods. She was dark-skinned with long and thick blue-black hair, and wore jeans and a red leather jacket. A gun was holstered on her side, and she had a hand to it, ready to draw at any second.

"Don't tell me, Xanatos, let me guess," the woman said dryly. "You were minding your own business when this kid arbitrarily decided to pin you down with his funky sword."

"Not at all, Detective," Xanatos said casually. "Owen and I were just engaging in a little training exercise for ourselves."

The detective walked up to Skye, taking her hand off of her gun and opening her jacket, revealing a police badge on the inside. "Hey there," she said gently. "Elisa Maza, 23rd Precinct. What's your name, kid?"

"Skye," he growled, still staring down at Xanatos and not removing his blade.

"That's a great name, really fits you," she said. "Can you tell me what happened here, Skye?"

"Xanatos," Skye spat, too angry to speak clearly. "Attacked us… no reason… our wizard, she's…"

Webby rose into a sitting position, groaning.

Detective Maza glared angrily at the downed man. "Really, Xanatos? _Really?_ She's a child."

"A child whose mastery of magic nearly killed me, thank you so much for your concern, Detective," Owen said dryly.

"Can it, Burnett," Maza snapped. "Well, at least it's sundown. That should get this conflict resolved pretty quick."

Skye looked around. Night had indeed fallen, but he didn't understand Maza's statement. "Why…?" he began.

He got his answer as the seven gargoyles atop the tower began to crack. The cracks ran all along the surfaces of each statue, glowing faintly, and soon, the layer of stone skin around each gargoyle broke away, revealing creatures very much organic and very much alive.

They yawned and stretched as if just waking up, and their eyes glowed a blinding white—all but the female, whose eyes glowed red. The eye lights faded and the gargoyles glided one by one down to the battlements. The wingless one, who was dark blue, more animal than the others and whose eyes remained white at all times, was carried down by two others: an enormously fat and spiky-headed blue-green specimen, and the female, who was blue-gray with long black hair and wore a clean white tunic. After setting the beast down, the two gargoyles reached out to hold hands with one another.

The largest gargoyle, the solemn-looking hulk with bulging muscles and the same coloration as the female, stepped to the forefront of the group and surveyed the scene between Skye and Xanatos. "Elisa," he said in an impossibly deep, resonant voice. "What has happened here?"

"I'm still working on that," the detective admitted.

The gargoyle glared sourly at Xanatos. "Xanatos, explain—" He stopped abruptly as he saw Skye's weapon. "A Keyblade!" he roared.

Skye stepped away from Xanatos and prepared to defend himself, but he couldn't have expected what happened next. The gargoyle folded his enormous bat wings around himself like a cloak and bowed deeply; all the other gargoyles followed his lead.

The big gargoyle gazed back up at Skye, looking just as awestruck as Skye felt, and rumbled, "Clan Manhattan pledges its loyalty to you, o Keybearer."


	24. Protect and Serve

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

_Gargoyles_ has so many rich stories to offer, it would be a crime if I did only one of them. So I made one up. Rather than following the plot of any single episode, I'm going for an all-original story here.

I only just noticed that when it comes to plotlines that mirror the movie, none of the worlds that debuted in the original _Kingdom Hearts_ does that—they all have original stories. While worlds that debuted in later games tend to follow the movie _exactly_. I can't believe it took me so long to notice that, but it's kind of lame…

**Protect and Serve**

"Goliath, what are you…?" the detective demanded.

The huge gargoyle got to his feet. "The gargoyle race and the Keyblade have a long history together," he said. "We fought side by side to protect the innocent."

A brown-skinned gargoyle stepped toward Skye. He looked old, with a gray beard and a scar across one eye, which was yellow and vacant. While most of the other gargoyles wore only tattered loincloths, he was also outfitted in a black leather breastplate and trousers, with a curved shortsword tucked into his belt.

"Aye," he said, "but it's been many centuries since the blade o' keys has graced our world." He touched Skye's face with his talons. "So nice ta have ye and yer weapon here again, lad."

"Whatever your business may be on this world," Goliath added, "this clan is at your service."

Skye rested his Keyblade across his shoulders and leaned back on his heels to look up at Goliath's face, towering above him. "Are you sure that's wise?" he said. "To say that to the first Keyblade to show up at your tower? I admire your optimism, but not every Keyblade wielder protects."

Goliath leaned toward him and bared his teeth, his eyes glowing white. "_If_ you prove yourself evil, you shall suffer my clan's ire for all eternity."

Skye nodded. "That's what I hoped. It won't happen, sir. I'm one of the good guys."

"Good," Goliath said, rising to his full height again. "So… what brought you into conflict with our landlord?"

Xanatos stood up and started brushing himself off. "It was nothing personal," he said, as calmly as he said everything. "There was a Keyblade on my property and I simply _had_ to test my mettle."

A small and lithe gargoyle, red with long white hair and a beak for a mouth, raised himself erect and crossed his arms over his chest. "He had you on your back with a sword at your throat," he said in a gravelly voice. "It's nice to know that you _are_ capable of losing."

"Quite the contrary, Brooklyn my boy," Xanatos said smugly. "My goal was to see how I would fare in a battle against a Keyblade wielder. I now know the answer to that question and can plan for the future accordingly. So as always, I win."

The armored man marched away into the depths of the castle, Owen on his heels.

"Same old Xanatos," the beaked gargoyle said grimly.

Max scratched his head, confused. "Why's a band of noble creatures like you living with a jerk like Xanatos?"

Goliath sighed deeply, truly an amazing sound, and closed his eyes introspectively. "Several years ago, David Xanatos purchased our ancestral castle and moved it to the top of his skyscraper. By raising the castle above the clouds, he freed us from the curse which had forced us to sleep for a thousand years. He had planned to set himself up as our benefactor, but once he showed his true colors, he became our nemesis instead. Now, with the city aware of our existence and up in arms against us, we have been forced to return to the castle and accept him as our benefactor once again."

"It's… not an easy alliance," Detective Maza muttered.

"But enough of such bitter things," Goliath said wryly. "Introductions are in order… I am Goliath. You've met Brooklyn, my second-in-command"—he clapped the beaked gargoyle on the shoulder—"and my mentor, Hudson…" He indicated the bearded one.

The smallest gargoyle, nearly as small as Skye, crept forward. He was bald-headed and gray-green, with huge childish eyes. Unlike all the others, his wings were attached to his arms. "Hi, I'm Lexington," he said in a thin, wheezy voice. "Are these your ships? That you use to travel the worlds?" Without waiting for an answer, he bounded on all fours toward the Gummi pods.

Goliath indicated the rotund gargoyle and the female, who now had their arms around one another. "This is Broadway, and my daughter Angela," he said.

"Hello," Angela said, her bright smile flashing a pair of fangs.

"Bronx, our beast," Goliath said, as the beast reared up, placed its front claws on Skye's shoulders and started licking his face. "And of course, the wonderful Elisa," he finished, gazing lovingly at the detective, who glanced away, blushing.

"I'm Skye," the apprentice replied proudly. "I'm just leading a little expedition through the worlds. Max is the party warrior, Webby's the wizard."

Webby returned to the group, rubbing her aching head.

"Hey, I've met someone who looked like you," Broadway said to her. "An old Scottish guy who sold me this _amazing_ salty ice cream…"

"That's my Unca Scrooge," Webby peeped.

"Well," Angela said, "next time you see him, be sure to tell your uncle that should he return to this world, he'll have a very loyal customer waiting for him." She poked Broadway's belly playfully.

"Webby, are you okay?" Skye said hastily. "You took a lot of direct hits there."

"I'm fine," she insisted softly.

"You shouldn't throw yourself into the thick of things like that," Max said. "Me and Skye, we can take a hit, but you, you're… you know." He shrugged sadly. "Soft and squishy."

"I may be squishy, but I'm still a wizard," Webby snipped. "With my magic, I'm just as powerful as you guys."

Skye knelt down to her eye level. "Well, just keep us covered from behind from now on, okay? I don't want to see that happen to you again. I've never been so scared."

His sincerity deflated her. "Okay," she sighed.

The heads of all those there on the parapets turned at the sound of screams, of squealing tires and crashes, coming from the city streets far, far below.

"Come!" Goliath bellowed at once. He picked up Elisa and jumped off the side of the building, his massive wings spreading.

Brooklyn put a talon on Skye's shoulder. "May I?" he said.

Skye nodded, and Brooklyn picked him up and jumped off after Goliath. Skye felt the adrenaline as the red gargoyle pierced the cloud bank and dove down as fast as he could, slowing only when they were mere feet from the pavement.

The streets were crawling with Heartless, chasing after people in the streets and swarming over an overturned car. Without hesitation, Goliath jumped after three Shadows that had a young couple cornered against a shop window. He dug his claws into two of them, shredding their wispy forms, then whipped his tail through the third.

Skye attacked the Heartless menacing the car, cutting them down with his two friends by his side. Lexington picked up a Shadow and flung it over his head, smashing its body against the pavement, while Bronx mauled and savaged every monster within reach.

Elisa flawlessly wiped out three fleeing Shadows with three shots of her sidearm. "Goliath, watch out!" she called.

Goliath spun, stomping on the three Heartless that had been trying to ambush him. He made eye contact with the two civilians he had rescued, and they screamed and fled for their lives, running down an alley straight into another ambush of Heartless.

Goliath dropped to all fours and bounded after them, over the heads of the two humans, and tore the Shadows and Soldiers to pieces with a mighty roar.

The young man drew a gun and stammered, "Stay back!" When Goliath didn't respond, he and his girlfriend tore out in a different direction.

Goliath walked out of the alley, and Skye approached him curiously. "You saved them, even though they were terrified of you."

"Gargoyles protect," Goliath said firmly. "We protect all those who live in our castle, whether they like it or not, and my castle is Manhattan. That is the gargoyle way."

Skye smiled. "I think I like the gargoyle way."

Goliath nodded. "It is the Keyblade way as well, is it not?"

"I don't know, but it should be," Skye said.

Lexington scampered over to a store window that displayed numerous television sets, which depicted a series of Heartless attacks happening at numerous locations.

"They're all over the city!" Lexington exclaimed.

Brooklyn growled deep. "They'll tear Manhattan apart."

"Call it, Goliath," Elisa said sharply.

Goliath pondered for barely a second. "Brooklyn, take Angela and the boys north. Halt every attack that you see!"

Brooklyn saluted and climbed up a building, followed by three others. When they were high enough to catch a wind current, they glided off into the distance.

"Hudson, take Bronx back to the castle," Goliath said. "Find out what Xanatos knows about this, and patrol this region."

"Aye, lad," Hudson said, picking up Bronx and launching himself into the air.

"Elisa…" Goliath began.

"The precinct?" she said promptly.

"Yes. Get the police mobilized against these Heartless. Try to throw the Gargoyle Taskforce off our scent, get them doing something useful."

"I'll do what I can," Elisa promised. "Wait a minute, doesn't that leave you all alone?"

"Hardly," Goliath said with a smirk. "I am giving myself to the command of the Keyblade Master."

"Um… I'm not a Master, but thanks," Skye muttered.

"Okay," Elisa said. "Be careful, you guys." She ran into a sleek red car that was parked just in front of Xanatos' building, and drove away at breakneck speed.

Goliath turned to Skye expectantly.

"Look, you're probably a better tactician than me," Skye said, shrugging. "But my first impulse is… well, the Heartless are attracted to the Keyblade. The fighting should come to me all on its own. We need to help it along, get within their reach so they don't feel the need to kill civilians to get to me."

"And when they reach you?" Goliath asked.

Skye hefted his Keyblade. "I do my job."

Goliath stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Reckless… but doubtless to be effective."

"I'm glad you approve," Skye said grandly. "I hope you gargoyles find following me a worthy cause, for at least as long as I'm—"

A Shadow jumped around the corner and dug its cold claws into Skye's arm. He snarled and struck at it, one-handed and unsteady. Goliath jumped to his aid and clawed it to death.

"Watch your boasting, apprentice," Goliath said, smirking.

"Right, my bad," Skye said, embarrassed. "Um…" He glanced down the now-empty streets. "Max, think you can scout ahead just a bit? Take a look around that corner for me."

Max nodded and crept forward. Keeping his lance behind his back, he peered around the street corner, and a series of tiny fireballs immediately blasted him in the face.

"Okay, I think I know what's up ahead," he called. "Care to join me?"

Skye ran to Max's side, then jumped around the corner, giving himself as much stage presence as he could. Two tiny red Heartless wove around him through the air, their useless three-toed feet dangling beneath.

"Ah, I've heard of these things," Skye said thoughtfully. "Easy enough to destroy, the trick is—"

One of them shot a fireball at him, and he deflected it.

"—catching them," he finished.

The Nocturne was dazed by its own fireball, and Skye took advantage of its stillness. He jumped as high as he could, slashing it from above.

Goliath snarled and clawed at the other as it circled him rapidly. Roaring in frustration, Goliath leapt onto the side of a nearby building before hurling all of his weight down upon the unfortunate Heartless, crushing it between his body and the pavement. Its essence flowed through the air as if desperate to escape Goliath's stone-tough mass.

While Goliath heaved himself to his feet, the sound of terrifyingly rapid and heavy footsteps approached from down the street. "What in the world…?" Goliath breathed.

A single, shockingly enormous Defender Heartless was barreling down the middle of the streets, its dog-faced shield knocking aside cars one at a time. When it spotted Skye, it stopped in its tracks and beheld him ominously, its shield growling.

Skye flinched, but Goliath didn't hesitate; he roared and immediately jumped over the shield to tangle with the monster directly.

Inspired, Skye nudged Max and the pair of them started to advance—until Shadow after Shadow began popping out of the ground, forming a ring around the grappling pair of Goliath and the Defender.

"_THUNDARA!_" Webby shot a mass of lightning bolts over Skye's head, each one perfectly latching onto a single Heartless, staggering most of the swarm. Barely a second later, "_FIRA!_" Small fiery orbs started shooting out of Webby's crystal, hunting down the Heartless that had already been wounded, disintegrating them.

"Good one, Webby," Skye said. "Now stay back."

Skye and Max raced to Goliath's aid—the path was clear, but only briefly, as the Shadows who had been behind the Defender were now scrambling to the front.

Goliath was on the creature's shoulders, tearing at its flesh wildly. The furious Heartless eventually managed to get a hand on Goliath's tail and throw him against a brick building. The collision appeared to do more damage to the wall than to Goliath, and when the gargoyle stood up to square off once again with the shield-carrying Heartless, Skye and Max were by his side.

When some of the Shadows came up behind this powerful trio, Webby quickly blasted them away, feeling smug until she realized that they were too engaged with the Defender to notice.

The beast took huge swings with its shield, scarring the walls and smashing parked cars, before finally swiping Skye, Max, and Goliath clean off their feet.

Max was the first to stand up, and it pounded him into the ground. Goliath roared and grabbed at the shield, his claws scraping the steel.

Skye didn't even attempt to stand up, instead flinging his Keyblade point-first into the being's center. As it staggered, its essence started to flow away, and Wide Open Space returned to Skye's hand. He cast a quick spell to himself and stood up in time to get a good view of the giant Defender's death.

He stopped to take a look at his surroundings. Goliath and the very weakened Max were picking off the Defender's Shadow minions.

Skye was up to the task as well. He slashed horizontally, killing two, then stepped forward and beat one over the head, then spun to knock three more off their feet. He smashed two of them with the flat edge of his blade, then stabbed the last one through the diaphragm. He even felt confident enough to strike a victory pose as the last one dissipated.

Two of them popped out of the ground in front of Webby, and Skye jumped across the gap between them to thrash the duo instantly. When another three appeared behind Skye, Webby squeaked "_Blizzara!_" shooting three ice crystals, which flew around Skye to destroy the three Shadows.

"Webby, stop trying so hard to prove your point," Skye said gently.

Max and Goliath joined him. "Shall we go on our way?" Goliath rumbled.

"_Cura_," Webby whispered, bringing Max out of his battered state.

"Yeah," Skye said, looking around. "More will come. They always do. Let's track them down."

"Hey," Max said, suddenly alert. "Look, there's a bunch up there on that rooftop."

Goliath followed his gaze. "I'll get them," he growled.

Skye nodded. "Go, we'll cover you."

Goliath ran to the building and began climbing up to the roof.

"Tinker Bell!" Skye tossed the tiny shoe charm into the air, and Tink came to him. "We need to fly up there," he said to her, pointing to the roof. "That'll be it, I think."

Tink nodded and raced around the three of them until they started to drift upward. Skye, Max, and Webby shot through the air to the roof. Skye and Webby shot their magic at the group from the air, while Max dropped down to the ground to skirmish with them head-to-head. The swarm was defeated before Goliath even made it to the top.

He smiled wryly as he hung from the building's side, when something caught his eye. On a lower roof, Demona and Dr. Facilier were watching the battles in the streets with interest.

"DEMONA!" Goliath bellowed. "YOU ARE BEHIND THIS?"

"What the…" Facilier muttered. "Who is _that?_"

Demona palmed the huge, shiny laser gun she had picked up at her home. "Just who we're after," she said calmly. "The leader of Clan Manhattan… and I suppose, in human terms, my ex-husband."

"RAAAAAARRRRRRHHHH!" Goliath vaulted off the wall and flung himself through the air toward Demona's rooftop, spreading his wings as he crossed the distance.

"I see why you left him," Facilier said grimly. "The man has a serious problem with overreaction."

"Hrmm, he left me, actually," Demona said bitterly. "So he may be a large ham, but he's _my_ large ham."

She shot her laser cannon at Goliath, hitting him in the wing and causing him to drop, hard, on the rooftop.

While Goliath heaved himself to his feet, Facilier took a moment to inspect Demona's body, then Goliath's. "Ah… huh," he said thoughtfully. "Listen, big fella, I'm not suggesting you don't like women, but…" He glanced at Demona's figure again.

"Yet again, you attempt to cause carnage in _my _city, Demona!" Goliath declared. "You will pay for this!"

"Keep telling yourself that," Demona said smoothly. "Oh, and look, you have your own little band of heroic misfits…"

Skye, Max, and Webby had flown to Goliath's aid. Tinker Bell joined them, but vanished as her summoning spell expired.

"Hello, Keyblade wielder," Dr. Facilier said. "Quite a heck of a time you gave our Brotherhood back there when you offed Gothel. I think it's time he paid, eh Demona?"

"Yes, and I've just the plan," Demona said. "Behold, a gift from the Realm of Darkness! Let's see the mighty union of Keyblade and gargoyle take down a mighty Pureblood Heartless, the Great Black Dragon!"

The enormous dragon rose out of the streets, passing through the pavement as if it were water. It was fifty feet long and serpentine, with one pair of wings and one pair of talons. It was indeed Pureblood, black and featureless apart from its round yellow eyes and its maw of sharp, white teeth.

"Ciao," Demona said calmly, spreading her wings and vanishing into the night. Facilier followed, jumping uncertainly off the side of the building.

Skye, Goliath, Max, and Webby gazed up in horror at the huge draconic Heartless. It opened its mouth and gave a mighty roar, shooting a jet of green-and-black flames in no particular direction.

Its yellow eyes turned hungrily to the four heroes on the rooftop.


	25. No Solutions

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Man, I am so sick of this story. Gonna finish it anyway, just to prove to myself that I'm not a failure, but sheesh, it's become such a chore now… writing all the dialogue is easy, because I planned all the dialogue out completely before I even started, but it's hard to write new fight scenes chapter after chapter, when there's just no passion, when the story's gone borderline-unnoticed for almost two years, when there's no hope of it going anywhere… ugh.

**No Solutions**

Skye, Max, and Goliath stood back-to-back on the rooftop as the black dragon circled around them. Skye shuffled Webby into the center of their triangle, much to her indignation.

The dragon was not actually attacking, just circling the building quickly enough to prevent them from escaping. Skye shot a fireball at it, but the dragon seemed to brush it off as nothing. Undeterred, Skye opened his coat. "Wally B., find us a weak spot," he whispered.

The bee obliged, flying over to the dragon and inspecting its body, unseen. Finding a place beneath the base of its wing, Wally B. stung it hard. The dragon cried out, but didn't bother turning to face its small assailant.

Wally B. returned to Skye's pocket, and Skye kept his eye on that vulnerable spot, aiming another fireball at where that spot would be given the dragon's current speed, hitting it flawlessly.

The dragon dove into the street, passing through it like a ghost, then rose again, staring at them as it hovered.

Goliath roared and charged at it, flinging himself at its neck, his sheer strength digging his talons into its black flesh. He held on, thrashing around, and the dragon crowed with agony, unleashing its green flame into the sky.

After a few seconds, it flipped over and started for the street again.

"Goliath, jump off!" Skye called out frantically.

Goliath was forced to push off the dragon's body and back onto the roof as it sunk into the ground again.

None of them were watching as it rose again on the other side of the building, while they were waiting for it to return to the spot where it had vanished. The flapping dragon glared at them and blew its fire toward them.

Webby turned around just in time. "Look out!" she squeaked.

Goliath jumped between the three young warriors and the blast of flame, spreading his wings to shield them, roaring in both defiance and pain as he took most of the damage for himself.

"We can't touch it," Skye muttered. "I already sent Tinker Bell back. We just can't fight like this."

"Sure we can," Max said. "It's close enough to the edge."

Max raced to the edge and jumped straight up, his gangly arms and long lance managing to nick the dragon's tough scales. After a five-hit combo, he landed back on the roof and backed away.

"Hmm," Skye said. "So it's resistant to magic, but regular weapons work fine. I wasn't expecting that. All right, I'm going for it."

Goliath eyed him, amused. "Have you no fear of falling?"

"Falling?" Skye repeated. "It's a dragon, it could shred me with its teeth or incinerate me. I'll take a little bit of falling over those choices, thanks."

The dragon had its eyes on the Keyblade. Skye charged, rolling out of the way of a blast of fire, then parrying its teeth away. He jumped, higher than he ever had in his life, and landed on the back of its neck, painfully rolling over some of the spikes on its back before grabbing one to hold himself steady.

He had to remind himself that his Keyblade was too big for him to wield in one hand. He planted his feet firmly on the dragon's neck and let go of the neck spike. He lifted Wide Open Space and prepared to jam it into the Heartless' flesh.

The dragon was having none of that, and angled its body vertically. Skye stumbled and had to grab a spike lower down the dragon's back as it shot toward the sky.

"Ooooh, that's gonna be a _lot_ of falling," he muttered. "Okay, okay, no big deal…"

He tried to think fast, wondering how he could use his huge weapon with only one hand and when so close to his opponent. He grinned when the solution hit him; he began using it as a saw, drawing it back and forth across the dragon's armored back. It howled in pain as it corkscrewed through the air, trying to throw him off.

He lost his grip for a second, but managed to lodge his Keyblade deep within its flesh and keep a grip on its handle. It dove toward the earth, hoping to use the same strategy it had attempted against Goliath: sending its ghostly form into the ground where he couldn't follow, slamming him against the pavement.

Skye tried to pull his Keyblade out to no avail. He shrugged, knowing it would return to his hand any minute, and prepared himself to simply jump off as the dragon's head passed through the road.

Skye hurled himself through the air, and Goliath swooped down to catch him and slow his fall. The Keyblade was lying in the middle of the road. Skye flipped his wrist and it materialized in his two-handed grasp.

"Take me down a little, would you please, Goliath?" Skye said intently.

Goliath obliged, floating toward the ground with Skye beneath him. The black dragon burst out of the pavement, and Skye immediately cracked it over the head, breaking its teeth. The Great Black Dragon screeched and extended a wing. Skye dropped onto the wing and slashed at it, tearing the thin webbing, then crawled along its wing toward its back, stabbing it deeply once again, while Goliath scratched and clawed at its belly.

The dragon spun in midair, flinging both of them back onto the roof. It writhed around, flapping its wings helplessly, releasing a pitiful croon and a jet of flame as it dissipated into black smoke.

Skye and Goliath made eye contact, then grasped each other's forearms triumphantly.

"Uh-oh," Max said. "Guys!"

They spun around, to see Demona with her laser cannon, joining them on the roof.

"I hoped it wouldn't do more than soften you up," she sneered.

"Demona!" Goliath bellowed. "Why? You release Heartless in the streets, to what end?"

"I'm after your heart, Goliath, and those of your clan," Demona said. "Your hearts will aid in the creation of _my_ army, to assault all the worlds!"

"WHAT?" Dr. Facilier demanded. He had appeared behind the group's back.

Demona shot her laser at Facilier, who dove out of the way.

"Oh, Xefrii? Ciexu?" Demona said to the sky. "I know you're watching. You should have done a background check. I don't work well on a team. I accepted your offer only to gain the powers of darkness, now I have no more need of you. And the power has opened my mind." She grinned wickedly at Goliath. "I now realize I haven't been thinking big enough. Why merely destroy the humans on _my_ world when I can purge them from ALL the worlds?"

Goliath growled and prepared to advance on her, but Dr. Facilier pushed past him. "Out of my way, big fella!" he growled, brandishing his cane. "No one betrays the Brotherhood!"

Facilier tackled Demona. She fought back, growling and snarling, and the two of them rolled around on the roof. Facilier knocked her to the ground and stood up, but she wrapped her tail around his ankle and tugged him down with her.

"Oh, little Keybearer?" she said. "If you seek the source of the imbalance and the Midghosts, look to the Keyblade Graveyard."

"Why you—" Facilier snarled, swiping at her legs with his cane. Demona kicked him off the edge of the building.

Facilier's rolled as he hit the ground, leaping to his feet. He glared up at the roof, but didn't return, instead running away down the street as fast as he could.

"Surrender your heart to me now, Goliath," Demona commanded. "You know you've never _actually_ defeated me."

"That may change," Goliath rumbled.

"It definitely will," Skye agreed. "He's got us now!"

"We shall see," Demona said. She fired up her laser cannon, shooting out a continuous beam. She swung it like a sword, the weightless beam slicing through Skye, Max, and Goliath, but passing right over Webby's head. The three of them cried out in pain and staggered.

Demona held her gun in one hand and swirled a talon on the other hand over her head, incanting a spell that caused green sparks to flash all over the rooftop, burning her opponents.

Max slashed at her, but he caught his lance in her tail and pulled it out of his hand, knocking him to the ground. She stomped on the back of his head with her clawed foot, making sure he stayed down.

Goliath lunged, trying to get his arms around Demona, but she ducked and shot a jet of blue magic out of her palm into his chest. He staggered, wheezing and heaving, weakened. He reached for her again helplessly, but she dodged easily.

Demona extended the beam of her laser once again, slashing and spinning with it, leaving scorch marks on the roof and surrounding buildings. Skye knew there would be no point in attempting to block, so he did his best to roll around to avoid it, not doing much good, as he was left covered in burn marks.

He performed a leaping attack toward her head, and she parried with her gun. She snapped her fingers, blowing him away with more green sparks. With another evocation, she wrapped a golden rope around his neck and pulled him toward her forcefully. The third part of her maneuver was a simple punch in the face, downing him.

"Excellent," Demona said. "Those who oppose me completely pounded into the ground, and nary a scratch on me. Now for the harvesting…"

"Hey!" Webby peeped sharply. "What about me?"

Demona stared at her blankly. "Who the devil are you? How long have you been standing there?"

"I'm Webby Vanderquack," Webby said simply. "My uncle is Donald Duck, the best archmage in all the worlds. And he taught me everything he knows."

She raised her crystal wordlessly and bombarded Demona with fireballs, ice crystals, and lightning bolts. Demona braced herself against the onslaught, holding her gun as a shield in front of her face, but taking the brunt of the assault all over her body. Goliath, still weakened, took the opportunity to unsteadily creep up behind Demona and snap her neck.

Webby shot out two beams of leafy green magic, reviving Skye and Max.

"What happened?" Skye demanded.

"I beat her with my magic," Webby said. "Because she treated me like a little kid even though I'm actually a powerful wizard." She grinned smugly.

Skye sighed and looked down at his feet, embarrassed. "You're right, Webby. I'm sorry. You're the best mage anyone ever travelled with. I guess we just forgot about that for a minute."

Max looked down at Demona's broken body. "Did you kill her?" he whispered.

"Aye, but not for long," Goliath said. "Demona shares her soul with her old enemy, a man called Macbeth. While one lives, both live. Only Macbeth can end Demona's life permanently, and then only at the cost of his own… and he has decided that he no longer wishes to die."

"So Demona could come back to life any minute?" Skye said, recoiling.

"Yes. Our standard procedure is to imprison her in the Labyrinth when she is defeated." He picked her up in his arms. "I shall take her there myself. Why don't you three return to the castle and see what progress my clan has made?"

"Is that an order?" Skye said playfully.

"I would never presume to give orders to a Keybearer," Goliath said, smiling. "However, I am more familiar with the situation at hand than you are. I pray you heed my suggestions."

Skye nodded. "Okay. We'll meet you back at the castle."

"Godspeed, lads and lass."


	26. The Way to Dawn

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Like I was saying before, this fanfic sucks. It's nothing but a burden on me. So much for "magnum opus", eh? So much for "fic I was born to write".

And the thing is, it doesn't _have_ to be a burden. Nobody apart from me even knows about this fic. It would be perfectly acceptable for me to declare it dead or, hell, just delete it. But I can't, because I'm a moronic OCD nutcase who wouldn't be able to live with myself if I stopped writing this worthless, useless, piece-of-crap fanfic. I'd rather _die_ than write one more word of this story, but if I don't finish it I'm going to spend the rest of eternity wringing my hands about it. _WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?_

So, strap in, nonexistent person reading this! I know there's nobody out there, I know I'm just ranting to myself, but we've got eight more worlds to visit. Yay…

**The Way to Dawn**

Skye, Max, and Webby met Hudson and Bronx at the foot of Xanatos' building.

"Welcome back, lad," Hudson said. "What did ye learn?"

"The attacks were caused by… well, I assume you know Demona?" Skye said.

Hudson nodded grimly. "Aye. I might have known."

"She was working with this, um, 'Brotherhood' that we fought on the last world we visited," Skye said. "But she turned against her allies and gave us the location of the group's base."

"That certainly sounds like Demona," Hudson said. "Lass can't see a man's back without stabbin' it."

"Anyway, we defeated her… and Goliath said he's taking her to the Labyrinth," Skye finished.

"Hrmm, well, that's good news that ye stopped her, at least," Hudson said, scratching his beard. "I see doubt in yer eyes, lad. Are ye wonderin' whether ta follow the directions she gave ye?"

"I don't see how I can't," Skye said. "Assuming she was telling the truth, that's where my enemies are, where my whole mission can end. But… it's the Keyblade Graveyard. Why do you think they call it that? It's where Keyblade wielders go to die."

"Hrmm," Hudson said again. "Ye want my advice? Don't go. Not until ye've grown stronger. Doubtless, Demona hoped ye and this Brotherhood would wipe each other out, get ye both out of her hair. Hold off on walkin' inta her trap until ye see no other angle from which ta solve yer problem."

Skye nodded. "Okay… thanks, Hudson. I guess we'll explore our other options."

Bronx sniffed at Skye's shoes and panted happily.

"Planning to fly back up to the castle, then?" Hudson asked.

"We're… kind of exhausted, actually," Skye said. "Think we'll take the elevator. It'll give us time to catch our breath."

"Aye, smart thinkin', lad. We'll make further plans when Goliath returns from the Labyrinth."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Several minutes later, the elevator opened at the top, directly into the castle. The trio had barely exited the elevator when Angela swooped down on them, terrified.

"You must flee from this place!" she said hurriedly. "Fetch Goliath, tell him what's happening—"

There was a flash of green light, and Angela suddenly shrank down to only a few inches tall. Dr. Facilier walked up to her and picked her up. "There you are," he said, dropping her into a glass jar, where all the other gargoyles of Clan Manhattan, shrunken down, were packed together.

"Stop that!" Skye snarled. He swung his Keyblade, but Facilier took a huge leap straight up into the air, onto a higher level of the castle.

"Aw, man, come on guys!" Skye said, taking a spiral staircase to that level. Elisa was there, her gun leveled at the witch doctor.

"Hands up, beanpole," Elisa said coldly. "You're under arrest. Now change the gargoyles back to their regular size."

A huge blue figure passed overhead.

"Goliath!" Skye and Elisa said together, in relief.

"Elisa!" Goliath called back.

Dr. Facilier swung his cane, causing another flash of green light to erupt around Elisa, shrinking her. He set down his cane and held out his hand, bringing the tiny Elisa floating through the air toward him before he popped her into the jar.

Goliath landed next to Skye and the others, growling, his eyes glowing white. "What sorcery is this?" he growled.

"No sorcery, my scenery-chewing friend," Facilier said coolly. "I have a few friends on the other side who are calling in the favors they owe me. Now, I've got the clan of strong hearts that Demona was after, all in one tiny little jar."

"Demona betrayed you," Goliath rumbled. "Why do you continue following her schemes?"

"It's a good idea, with or without her," Facilier said simply. "Hearts for the Brotherhood! Think I'll start with yours, big guy!"

"No!" Skye said, diving between Facilier and Goliath. "Put them back to normal."

Facilier slipped the jar into his jacket and brandished his cane. "Make me, little boy."

He swung his cane menacingly, secretly pulling a deck of cards out of a pocket with his other hand and tossing them at Skye. They flew at his chest and sliced past him. Skye cried out at the white-hot agony.

Max charged. Facilier batted him into the air with his cane and shot a jet of darkness at him. Max's body crackled with the dark energy and he tumbled to the ground. Without looking, Facilier threw more burning, razor-sharp cards at Webby, catching her off guard. She engaged her barrier spell too late and was wounded.

In a puff of smoke, Facilier was on the other side of the battlement. Goliath roared and charged at him on all fours. Facilier let him come, getting into a battle stance—his arm and cane began charging up with dark energy, and when Goliath was within reach, a single jab from the cane threw Goliath back across the battlements to Skye's side. Skye helped Goliath stand.

"We must defeat him before sunrise," Goliath whispered.

"Sunrise?" said Skye. "Why… oh. You'll all turn to stone?"

"Yes. We'll be defenseless. He will be free to shatter us, take our hearts, whatever he desires."

"Max, Webby, and I won't let that happen," Skye said firmly. "But we'll try to beat him down before it comes to that."

A barrier of cards floated around Facilier as he skimmed across the stone floor, threatening to cut anyone who came close. Skye charged him anyway, making sparks fly when his Keyblade clashed against the cards.

A swing of the cane tossed Skye into the air, and a pillar of darkness shot straight up from Facilier's cane, enveloping him. Feeling he was approaching critical condition, Skye allowed himself to drop down upon the witch doctor anyway, beating him back for a few brief seconds before rolling away to cast a quick Cure spell on himself.

"At least make it hard for me, boy," Facilier said gleefully. He pointed his cane at Skye, and bits of darkness shot out continuously like machine gun fire. Skye deflected them one at a time.

In another puff of smoke, Facilier appeared next to Max and swung at him. Max managed a single parry with his lance, but Facilier's second strike defeated his guard, and Max was beaten down mercilessly with the cane.

"Don't look now, but I think this fight is almost over," Facilier said smugly. A ring of darkness shot out of his body, expanding in every direction like a shockwave. The ring cut into each of his four opponents, wounding and weakening them further.

From inside the castle, Xanatos and Owen watched the battle with interest.

"It seems this battle is going poorly for our heroes," Xanatos said thoughtfully.

"Indeed, sir."

"I think they could use some mystical assistance. Don't you think, Owen?"

Owen sighed. "As I've told you before, Mr. Xanatos, I am forbidden, except in the training and protecting of your son."

"And as I've told _you_ before, Owen," Xanatos said patiently, "the rule that cannot be broken can surely be bent. This shadow man is attacking the castle, Alexander is probably somewhere in the castle. Figure it out somehow, Owen."

Owen blinked slowly. "As you wish, sir," he said, before transforming into a cloud of rainbow sparkles, which passed through the window and swept over Facilier, knocking him off his feet.

"What the—?" Facilier demanded.

The sparkles began to solidify into a humanoid shape. "Heeeeeeeeere's PUCK!"

The person who appeared wasn't Owen, but a tiny man with long, flowing white hair and huge, pointy ears, levitating above the ground.

"Put 'em up, daddio," Puck said to Facilier. He clawed at the tall and thin man, streaks of pink sparkles following behind his hands as he did so.

"Ding! Ding!" Puck sang as he gently tapped Facilier, causing him to cry out in pain. Puck started spinning like a ballerina, the pink ribbons of light surrounding him and damaging Facilier's body.

"Trash can!" Puck declared as one suddenly appeared in his hands. He took to the air and prepared to pop the can onto Facilier's head. Facilier dodged, and the trash can slammed against the ground.

"Aw, you're no fun at all," Puck pouted. "Hand over the jar, and maybe I'll let you keep that nice hat."

Puck produced a tree-branch, and its finger-like twigs reached into Facilier's jacket to pull out the jar. Facilier backed away from Puck warily.

"Wait!" Puck said in alarm. "Don't fall off the—"

Facilier had backed to the very end of the castle battlements. His eyes widened when he realized he was tumbling over the edge. He disappeared from view.

"…Building," Puck finished lamely. "Ugh, what a cliché. Everybody _always_ falls off the building." He turned to Skye. "But the fun part of that is, he might come back, he might not. That's what's great about people falling from a great height: you just don't know."

"Who in the world are you?" Skye demanded.

"That's Puck," Goliath explained. "One of the Fair Folk, trapped in the role of Xanatos' lackey Owen Burnett."

Puck nodded. "Though I _do_ love being Owen, I never thought I'd have to do it for eternity. Nice to get out and breathe every once in a while…" He floated toward Skye, hanging upside down, his face mere inches from Skye's. "Is there anything else that the Puck can do for you?"

"You can start by getting 'the Puck' out of my personal space," Skye said.

"Wow!" Puck exclaimed, backing up. "_That_ joke didn't make the Disney Afternoon. But okay… let's see if I can get the clan out of this jar." He pondered it for a moment, then simply threw it to the ground.

Goliath snarled, but the broken jar sparked with magic and the miniaturized clan returned to their normal sizes, looking exhausted and shaken.

"Goliath!" Elisa gasped, rushing into his embrace. "Sorry he took me out of commission. I would have loved to fight that jerk with you."

"I'd have enjoyed that," Goliath said, smiling.

"It's almost dawn," Angela observed. She turned to Skye. "Is my mother all right? Well, of course she is. I know she deserved whatever it is she received at your hands… I suppose you'll be flying off to see other worlds soon? I almost wish I could come with you… but no, my place is here. Perhaps some other time?"

"Yeah… we'll let you know," Skye said with a smile.

"All right, gang, let's pack it in," Brooklyn said dryly, clasping his talons together. "This has been a big night, now for a good day's sleep."

The gargoyles floated and walked back to their places upon a castle parapet. Elisa remained where she was, gazing up at them.

"This never stops being beautiful," Elisa whispered to Skye. "Take a look."

As the sun rose, each gargoyle struck a menacing pose. Their skin and clothing were covered all at once by a layer of crackling stone. In seconds, they were statues once again.

"It's nice to have them watching over us," Xanatos said as he appeared behind Elisa and the trio, still in his full armor and accompanied by Owen.

Elisa sighed. "And… and you do a pretty good job of watching over _them_," she said grudgingly.

Xanatos turned to Skye. "And you… the way you're clearly crusading against a takeover of all the worlds has caught my interest. It would be in my best interest to help prevent something like that. If there's any aid I can offer…"

"Oh, you don't have to—" Skye said frantically.

"I insist. Give it to them, Owen."

"Yes, sir," Owen said. He pulled a small, steel hand mirror out of his inside pocket and passed it to Skye. "This mirror will allow you to summon Puck. Another handy way of bending the rules."

Skye took the mirror uncertainly. "You mean… to summon _you_?"

"Me? No, I'm Owen Burnett. Summoning _me_ would hardly be useful in a combat situation."

Skye stared blankly.

"Puck is the greatest actor of all time," Xanatos said, clasping an armored hand on Owen's shoulder. "I've never seen him break character."

Contrary to this claim, a tiny smirk was playing around the edges of Owen's mouth.

"Well, thanks," Skye said, pocketing the mirror. "I'll use it if I'm in a tight spot."

"Please do," Xanatos said. "I'm very, _very_ interested in how your actions will affect the worlds." He turned and strolled away, along with Owen.

"Yeah, I'd recommend _not_ using that if you can avoid it," Elisa said. "No doubt Xanatos is up to something."

"Okay," Skye said, looking up at the gargoyles in their stone sleep. "This was a very special evening…"

"You made it special," Elisa said. "It's not everybody who can get those guys to just bow down. But you must get that a lot, travelling the worlds."

Skye shook his head. "Not at all. Getting that kind of respect from _them_, of all people? Of all the noble and heroic people all over the worlds… that felt good. Kind of gave me some confidence that I can pull off this mission."

"I'm sure you can," Elisa said sincerely. "But hey, don't leave us hanging—when you're done saving the worlds, come on back here."

"We will," Skye said.

A few minutes later, their three ships blasted off into the distance, into the rising sun.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Oceana sailed into Crystal Spheres on her surfboard-shaped Keyblade Glider. The elderly wizard of Pixar Palace stood on one of the outside walkways of a sphere.

"Hi," Oceana said, her pale blue armor fading into her regular outfit. "Are you Mr. Geri?"

"Yes, I am," the old man replied.

"Great!" Oceana said gleefully. "Master Kairi sent me here—she wanted me to learn about the 'Lost Ones'. Think you can walk me through it?"

Geri scratched his chin. "Well… there are eight 'Lost Ones'. Roxas, Xion, and Axel, currently residing in Master Sora's heart; Naminé, within Master Kairi's; the Grand Masters Aqua, Terra, and Ventus, lost twenty years past to parts unknown… and finally, the evil and chaotic Vanitas, the only one whose return the Keyblade lore wishes to prevent rather than bring about."

Oceana nodded. "Yeah, that's them. Where can I find the information?"

Geri pointed one of his shaky fingers. "Look beneath the large monument to the three Grand Masters. There's a hidden drawer there with all of the information we've ever been able to collect on them."

"Okay," Oceana said. "Thank you… Master Kairi says she has a hunch about there being a new way to bring them all back."

"I'm sure she does," Geri wheezed. "Naminé lives within her, after all. I'd trust those hunches."

Oceana flew to the huge stained-glass image of Aqua, Terra, and Ventus and opened the drawer. "Here we go…" she muttered, pulling out the collection of parchments. She addressed the window. "You guys might not be so lost after all."

She flew leisurely around the spheres as she thumbed through the reports. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Lando emerging from the library sphere, carrying reports of his own.

"Oh hi Lando!" she said brightly, blushing slightly. "I didn't know you'd be here."

"Yeah, me and Riku are trying to find out something about Midghosts," he said. "Anything at all, if it exists. You know."

"Oh yeah? I got some research to do too," Oceana said, holding up the bundle. "I should really read it. No time to chit-chat."

Lando scowled, but nodded at his papers. "Yeah… super busy…"

Oceana flew off and Lando walked along the outer walkway, only to find Riku blocking his path.

"Whatcha got there, Lando?" Riku said casually.

"Just, um, just some research," Lando said. "A little side-project I'm working on, see."

"What kind of side-project?"

"Um… whatever. Nothing. Just something to do."

Riku stared for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Okay, fine. You go do that."

Lando bowed. "Thank you, Master." He started past him.

"Oh, Lando?" Riku said.

"Yeah?" he said, turning around.

Riku grabbed Lando firmly by the neck. "You know, some say that the rise of the Keyblade—hundreds of us all over the worlds, enough to merit a full-on Keyblade Academy? Some people don't believe that this is such a good thing. Some people say that this is an ill omen, that the hundreds of Keyblade wielders are going to bring ruin to the cosmos." He tightened his grip. "If _my_ apprentice is the one to make these theories a reality, I am going to be sorely disappointed."

Lando swallowed. "Listen, Master Riku… would it kill you to lighten up a bit?"

Riku let go. "I suppose it wouldn't. But tread carefully, _boy_. Can you do that? Can I count on you to be careful?"

Lando nodded. "You bet."

"Okay. Go on, then."

Lando hurried off.


	27. Follow the Heart

**Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation**

Thanks, folks. I formally retract my previous statement that I don't care about this fic. It's good to know there are, in fact, people out there.

In fact, it's great, because I can share this rant. Check this out: I've finally figured out why people think WALL-E looks like the robot from _Short Circuit_. Ever since the movie came out, I've been wracking my brain trying to comprehend where the resemblance could possibly be. But now I get it. Let me explain it to you, this is interesting.

Pull up a picture of WALL-E. Go on, do it. What I realized is that I'd been looking at him in a completely different way than everyone else was. He consists of a pair of binoculars, atop a vaguely cubed body with a gray band running across the top. And for many years, when I looked at WALL-E, I saw him as being one big face: the binoculars were his eyes, the gray band was his mouth, and the rusted formerly-yellow part was his chin. Can you see him that way? Can you see why the comparison to Johnny Five confused the hell out of me, to the point that I worried about my own sanity?

I never realized there was another way to look at him. If the binoculars are his _head_, and the cube is his _body_… then yeah, he totally looks like Johnny Five. Only took me five years to figure it out. Boy, is that a load off my mind. Fascinating, isn't it?

**Follow the Heart**

The trio sailed through the stars in their formation. It had become comfortable, even second nature.

"So, we've got one more world in our patrol?" Max asked.

"That's right," Skye said. "Coming right up."

They saw the bright beacon of a new world and prepared to swoop down upon it, but Skye braked and held up a hand.

"Wait a minute…" he said. "We can't go there…"

"Why?" Webby peeped.

"This world is dead," Skye muttered. "It has no heart."

"Really?" Max demanded. "But… then how is it even here? Shouldn't it be empty space, the world sucked into the Realm of Darkness?"

"Well… in theory," Skye said uncertainly. "I don't know… maybe this is worth investigating. But I don't have any faith in that world being life-sustaining. There's no way I'm breaching its barriers. Not worth the risk."

"So how do we investigate, then?" Max said anxiously.

"You got me," Skye admitted. "Um… let's try circling the world, looking for clues. I dunno."

They did so, and quickly discovered the lead they were after: an enormous white spaceship, the size of a small world and shaped somewhat like a luxury cruise liner. On its side was a red-and-white logo reading "BnL", and across its nose, the name _Axiom_ was printed elegantly. Blue flames shot out of its rockets.

"Here we are," Skye said thoughtfully. "This ship looks like it's orbiting the world. Let's check it out."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

They found their way to the ship's interior, leaving behind their Gummi pods and armor to walk through a long, stark-white corridor. A huge door was ahead, and Skye prepared his Keyblade to open it, but a holographic screen appeared before the door, halting him.

The screen displayed an image of a smug-looking old man in a suit, standing behind a podium. "Good morning, everyone!" he said jovially. "I'm Shelby Forthright, CEO of the Buy n Large Corporation. Welcome to the _Axiom_!"

The screen showed an image of the ship, docked on an enormous launchpad in front of a grayish-yellow sky.

"Enjoy your five-year cruise while our WALL-E bots clean up our world…"

The picture showed a city covered completely in garbage, which a vast army of boxy yellow robots were cleaning up.

"Our fully automated crew will tend to your every need," said Forthright, appearing on the screen again. "And with our all-access hoverchairs, there's no need to walk! At Buy n Large, space is the final _fun_-tier!"

The hologram vanished, and the doors slid open automatically.

"That was illuminating," Max said thoughtfully. "A world overrun by garbage… but that wouldn't extinguish the world's heart, would it?"

"I don't think so," Skye said. "And… I've got a feeling it's been _way_ more than five years since the world was abandoned. Just a hunch, nothing more than that, but I'm pretty convinced."

They proceeded into the _Axiom_, into a metal hangar bay. Skye was immediately knocked off his feet by the weapon of an Assault Rider. Three other members of that four-legged Heartless breed, along with twice as many Shadows, jumped out from the sides of the door to gather around the group.

"Whoa!" Skye exclaimed. "Thundara!"

The huge explosion of lightning disintegrated all of the Heartless, save one Shadow who was standing outside of the blast. Skye casually pounded that last individual into oblivion.

"Wow," he commented. "I'm… actually kind of powerful."

Numerous other Heartless began appearing in bursts of black smoke. Max stepped forward and did a twirl with his lance, striking down four Red Nocturnes at once, while a second strike cleaved an Assault Rider in two.

Webby produced numerous orbs of pink magical energy and started flinging them one at a time into the crowds of Heartless.

Skye easily defended himself against attacks from some more Nocturnes before batting them down. He then dueled with a pair of Neoshadows, keeping his distance while his enormous swinging arcs slowly whittled away at them.

Max took a deep breath, focusing his energy, before rushing into battle with astonishing speed, making three swings with his lance per second, making short work of three Shadows, an Assault Rider, and after a small bit of effort, another two Neoshadows.

Webby began spinning like a ballerina, strings of magic flowing around her as she bounced around the room. Max mimicked her, his spins drawing enemies in toward him before slicing them to ribbons.

Skye found himself squeezed between a pair of Assault Riders, swiping at him with their spears. He stabbed one through the chest and jumped back. "Fira!" he called out, producing an enormous and steady stream of flame, destroying the Heartless who were now converging on him.

"Whew! Are we done?" he called out.

Max and Webby ran back to him. "Yeah, we're all good. You?"

"Great," he said. "Let's keep going."

They proceeded deeper into the ship, finding themselves in a huge corridor packed with masses of fast-moving traffic. It took them a moment to make sense of what they were seeing, but quickly realized that much of the traffic was an assortment of faceless robots, all staying perfectly on the tracks that told them where to go.

Another two lanes of traffic were dedicated to a series of identical, hovering chairs. In each and every chair was an enormously fat human in a red jumpsuit, with a holographic screen in front of his or her face.

"What in the world?" Skye muttered.

They crept along the edges of this odd highway, following out into a massive open area like the biggest indoor mall they had ever seen. As expected, it was covered in enormous holographic advertisements, but every ad bore the exact same logo: BnL.

A toneless female voice came on over the intercom. "Try blue! It's the new red."

In seconds, every red jumpsuit on the ship turned blue.

"Caution: rogue robots," the voice added. "Caution: rogue robots."

A few images appeared on the screen of two robots: one, white and egg-shaped, with a black screen displaying two furious blue eyes, and a gun on one of its flipperlike arms; the other, one of the robots that Shelby Forthright had identified as a WALL-E, but rusted beyond recognition.

Skye scanned the endless hordes of oversized babies in their hoverchairs, none of whom had spared them a glance, eyes firmly on their screens.

"Guys, I don't think we'll get very far by asking for information," he muttered. "Let's try to keep this one a stealth mission, old-school Keyblade stuff. Not that that'll be hard. We'll stick to the edges of the ship and try to figure out a way we can gather some intelligence."

They crept along down a corridor. From their hiding place, they heard a man's voice coming up over the speakers.

"Good morning, everyone! This is your captain. Ah, I see that today marks the seven hundredth anniversary… of our five-year cruise. Well, I'm sure our forefathers would be happy to know that seven hundred years later, we'd be doing… all the exact same things they were doing…"

Skye shot surprised glances to the others. That might have been just the information they were after. During their few seconds of distraction, something huge and heavy collided with them and knocked them to the ground.

They looked around wildly and saw a pair of flustered robots, the two who had appeared on the holographic warning.

The rusted robot rolled behind Skye and helped him to his feet. "Um… thanks," Skye said in surprise.

The robot held out its shovel-like hand. "_Wwwaaallll-eeeeee_," it said.

Enthralled, Skye shook hands with the machine. "Skye," he replied quietly.

Max and Webby stood up as well. "These are those 'rogue robots', aren't they?"

"_No!_" the white robot snapped irritably, in a fuzzy but unmistakably female voice. A strange red machine was shackled to her head and body, sticking out on her otherwise refined and flawless appearance.

"No?" Skye repeated. He turned to WallE in confusion. "What's going on here?"

"_WallE!_" the white robot urged, pulling him along.

"Wait a minute, I had questions—" Skye began, but WallE was allowing himself to be pulled along by the other.

"_Eva_," he said lovingly.

The two robots disappeared down the hall. Skye stared after them.

"So, what do we do now?" Max asked.

"We… we need to follow him," Skye said breathlessly.

"What?"

"WallE," Skye clarified. "I've got this… very powerful urge to follow him. We need to go wherever he goes." He turned to the others, who looked confused. "You guys trust me, right?"

"Of course," Max said. "But we'd better pick up the pace if we're going to catch up with him."

They raced after the robots, coming upon them getting into a tiny service elevator. Skye dove into a roll, slipping into the elevator with them and blocking the door with a hand so Max and Webby could also get in. The elevator was clearly meant for the ship's automated crew; Skye and Max had to sit down in order to get comfortable.

They sat in silence as the elevator started dropping downward. A screen in the elevator displayed the image warning of rogue robots.

"_Eva_," WallE whispered, pointing to it.

In response, without looking at the screen, she shot it with a laser bolt. The elevator doors opened and she pulled WallE out into a small, dark room that contained an escape pod. She began entering directions into a computer panel.

"Doesn't she freak you out a bit?" Skye said to WallE. The little robot shook his head, never taking his gaze from her.

"So, you're Eva?" Max said to the white robot.

She made a static-filled noise that may have been a snort. "_Eve_," she corrected.

The escape pod's doors opened. Eve gestured to it. "_Earth_," she said.

WallE tilted his head.

"_Earth_," Eve said forcefully, pointing to an image of the world just above the pod doors.

"_Oh!_" WallE exclaimed. He got into the pod and turned expectantly, waiting for Eve to join him.

She shook her head. WallE rolled out of the pod and stubbornly curled himself up.

"_WallE_," Eve sighed in exasperation.

"Uh, you guys hear someone coming?" Max said.

An orange light appeared in the dark corridors behind them. The five of them ran for cover. The orange light was the head and only notable feature of a tiny robot, who entered the escape pod, left something there, and tapped in commands into the panel before stiffly racing off.

The trio and the two robots looked into the pod. There was an old, dirty boot full of dirt. Growing out of the dirt was a tiny green plant.

"_Plant!_" Eve exclaimed.

"A plant?" Skye inquired. "What's going on? Who _was_ that?"

Eve gestured and beeped helplessly.

"…You robots don't really talk, do you?" Skye said dryly.

"_Eva!_"

They turned into the pod. WallE was there holding up the boot triumphantly, but at that moment the doors slammed shut and the pod jetted off into the Lanes Between.

"_NO!_" Eve screamed. She placed herself into a tube and dropped out of sight. Skye pressed his face against the window and saw her speeding off in pursuit of the pod, a trail of blue energy following behind her.

"I'm gonna go after her," he said. "You guys get to your pods and catch up when you can."

Max and Webby nodded to him. He dropped into the same tube, which jettisoned him out into the ship's exterior. As he was blown out into space, his armor encased him and he produced his glider, racing off in pursuit.

He was far from catching up with Eve when the pod exploded. Eve halted immediately, and Skye skidded to a stop at her side.

"_No_," Eve peeped. "_No_…"

Skye had barely held out an armored hand to comfort her when WallE came erratically flying toward them, creating a trail of ice crystals with the fire extinguisher he was using to propel himself around.

"_WallE!_" Eve shouted in relief, hugging him.

"_Eva_," he replied eagerly, opening his body's main compartment, producing the boot and plant.

Eve gasped. "_WallE!_" she squeaked in glee. She opened her own compartment and placed the plant inside herself, then spun WallE around in numerous circles, giggling all the while. WallE sighed in delight and nuzzled her. Skye had to chuckle at the sight.

Eve and WallE started dancing and weaving around in space. Max and Webby joined them in their Gummi pods.

"I'm guessing that went well?" Max said casually.

"Well, WallE is fine," said Skye. "So is the plant… the plant is important to these two for some reason, though the reason _why_ kind of escapes me."

Max shrugged. "Let's just keep following the robots, like you said. We'll piece this puzzle together. Hopefully by running into someone who can speak in full sentences."

Skye nodded, and the trio followed WallE and Eve in their dance through space. Out of the corner of the view he had through his armor's mask, he spotted another Keyblade Glider. Unlike his, this one was in a double-bow formation that required its rider to stand. The rider was encased in armor of blinding bright orange.

"Lando!" Skye called, saluting to him and flying over.

"Oh, Skye!" Lando replied. "Hey, little guy, how's it going?"

Both of them made their masks vanish, to speak face to face.

"What are you up to?" Skye asked.

"Oh, little of this, little of that," Lando replied, shrugging. "I've gotten a few good leads on where I'm meant to go, if ya catch my drift."

"Um… not really, but sounds great!" Skye said brightly. "I'm on a pretty big mission right now… I'm becoming a lot stronger, man. You wouldn't believe it. I'm really growing as a Keyblade wielder."

"Oh yeah? I dig that," Lando said with a smug grin. "I definitely dig power. Good for you."

"Well, um… anyway, I've got to go back with them," Skye said, pointing to the others. "There's some pretty important stuff going on, I think the future of a world might hinge on it."

Lando nodded. "Hey, do what you gotta do. Catch you later."

They replaced their masks and stared at each other for a few more seconds, then Skye veered off to join Max and Webby, pursuing Eve and WallE through a door leading back to the ship's interior. The door closed behind them.

"Virtue…" Lando pondered. "Heh heh, that's funny." He jetted off into the darkness.


	28. OFFICIAL CANCELLATION

Hi there. So… I wanted to have this chapter written and up by the time it was the fic's second anniversary, but I missed it. So I tried to have it done by Christmas, still nothing. Now here we are, on New Year's Eve, and it's just too much pressure. I can't take it anymore.

So today, I am officially cancelling _Kingdom Hearts: The Next Generation_. I know this is the third time this year that I've said that, but I really mean it this time. I just can't deal with the burden of it any longer.

But I did love this story once. And a part of me still does. So I'd be doing a disservice to myself, to the story, and to everybody who has actually read this far if I didn't explain to you what _would_ have happened had the story continued. So stay tuned for a series of new chapters that summarize all of the story's future events.

My original plan was to finish KHNG and then summarize all the sequels I'd been planning, since there was no possible way I was going to write those… There would have been no shame at all in that, because I would have at least one finished product. So I'm a bit ashamed about ducking out halfway through—especially halfway through _one world_—but I do feel like a weight has been lifted this New Year, and that I will enjoy summarizing the story a lot more than I would have enjoyed actually trying to write it. I hope you'll join me for these future, condensed chapters.


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